Digital processing systems and methods for tagging extraction engine for generating new documents in collaborative work systems

ABSTRACT

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for tagging, extracting, and consolidating information from electronically stored files are disclosed. The systems and methods may involve presenting to an entity viewing at least one source document a tag interface for enabling selection and tagging of document segments with at least one characteristic associated with each document segment; identifying tagged segments within the at least one source document; accessing a consolidation rule containing instructions for combining the tagged segments; implementing the consolidation rule to associate document segments sharing common tags; and outputting for display at least one tagged-based consolidation document grouping together commonly tagged document segments.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based on and claims benefit of priority ofInternational Patent Application No. PCT/IB2021/062440 filed on Dec. 29,2021, which claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.63/233,925, filed Aug. 17, 2021, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.63/273,448, filed Oct. 29, 2021, U.S. Provisional Patent Application No.63/273,453, filed Oct. 29, 2021, International Patent Application No.PCT/IB2021/000024, filed on Jan. 14, 2021, International PatentApplication No. PCT/IB2021/000090, filed on Feb. 11, 2021, andInternational Patent Application No. PCT/IB2021/000297, filed on Apr.28, 2021, the contents of all of which are incorporated herein byreference in their entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments consistent with the present disclosure include systems andmethods for collaborative work systems. The disclosed systems andmethods may be implemented using a combination of conventional hardwareand software as well as specialized hardware and software, such as amachine constructed and/or programmed specifically for performingfunctions associated with the disclosed method steps. Consistent withother disclosed embodiments, non-transitory computer-readable storagemedia may store program instructions, which may be executable by atleast one processing device and perform any of the steps and/or methodsdescribed herein.

BACKGROUND

Operation of modern enterprises can be complicated and time consuming.In many cases, managing the operation of a single project requiresintegration of several employees, departments, and other resources ofthe entity. To manage the challenging operation, project managementsoftware applications may be used. Such software applications allow auser to organize, plan, and manage resources by providingproject-related information in order to optimize the time and resourcesspent on each project. It would be useful to improve these softwareapplications to increase operation management efficiency.

SUMMARY

One aspect of the present disclosure is directed to systems, methods,and computer readable media for tagging, extracting, and consolidatinginformation from electronically stored files. Systems, methods, andnon-transitory computer readable media may involve at least oneprocessor configured to present to an entity viewing at least one sourcedocument a tag interface for enabling selection and tagging of documentsegments with at least one characteristic associated with each documentsegment. The at least one processor may be further configured toidentify tagged segments within the at least one source document. Inaddition, the at least one processor may be configured to access aconsolidation rule containing instructions for combining the taggedsegments. The at least one processor may be further configured toimplement the consolidation rule to associate document segments sharingcommon tags. The at least one processor may be further configured tooutput for display at least one tagged-based consolidation documentgrouping together commonly tagged document segments.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing device which may beemployed in connection with embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing architecture forcollaborative work systems, consistent with embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of an electronic collaborative wordprocessing document, consistent with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example of a shared electronic document withdefined granular permissions, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 4B illustrates another example of a shared electronic document withdefined granular permissions, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an electronic word processing documentincluding blocks of text, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of an electronic word processing documentincluding blocks of text having associated block-based permissions,consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 illustrates one example of an interface for defining block-basedpermissions for an electronic word processing document, consistent withsome embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 8 illustrates one example of an electronic word processing documentcontaining blocks and configured as a collaborative document, consistentwith some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 illustrates one example of an electronic word processing documentincluding graphical objects, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10A illustrates an example of an electronic word processingdocument with one or more blocks of text omitted from the displayassociated with an entity, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10B illustrates another example of an electronic word processingdocument with one or more blocks of text omitted from the displayassociated with an entity, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 10C illustrates another example of an electronic word processingdocument with one or more blocks of text omitted from the displayassociated with an entity, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 11 illustrates one example of an electronic word processingdocument containing blocks having associated block-based permissionspermitting viewing but preventing editing, consistent with someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method performed bya processor of a computer readable medium containing instructions,consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure, consistentwith some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example of presentation slides, each containing agraphical code, consistent with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an electronic word processing documentpresenting comments on presentation slides within a deck, consistentwith some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method performed bya processor of a computer readable medium containing instructions,consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 16 illustrates one example of an electronically stored filecontaining tagged information, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 17 illustrates one example of an electronically stored filecontaining information extracted from an electronically stored file,consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates one example of a source document presented byediting interface, which includes an embedded tag interface for enablingselection and tagging of document segments with characteristicsassociated with each document segment, consistent with some embodimentsof the present disclosure.

FIG. 19 illustrates one example of a tag interface feature for enablingtagging of document segments with one or more characteristics associatedwith each document segment, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates one example of a source document with displayed tagsassociated with document segments, consistent with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates one example of a tagged-based consolidation documentgrouping together commonly tagged documents segments from a sourcedocument, consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 22 illustrates one example of a second source document with tagsmaintained as metadata, consistent with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 23 illustrates one example of a tagged-based consolidation documentincluding document segments from a plurality of source documents,consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 24 illustrates one example of a consolidation interface forenabling definition of a consolidation rule, consistent with someembodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 25 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary method performed bya processor of a computer readable medium containing instructions,consistent with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments are described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings. The figures are not necessarily drawn to scale. While examplesand features of disclosed principles are described herein,modifications, adaptations, and other implementations are possiblewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosedembodiments. Also, the words “comprising,” “having,” “containing,” and“including,” and other similar forms are intended to be equivalent inmeaning and be open ended in that an item or items following any one ofthese words is not meant to be an exhaustive listing of such item oritems, or meant to be limited to only the listed item or items. Itshould also be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, thesingular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural references unless thecontext clearly dictates otherwise.

In the following description, various working examples are provided forillustrative purposes. However, is to be understood the presentdisclosure may be practiced without one or more of these details.

Throughout, this disclosure mentions “disclosed embodiments,” whichrefer to examples of inventive ideas, concepts, and/or manifestationsdescribed herein. Many related and unrelated embodiments are describedthroughout this disclosure. The fact that some “disclosed embodiments”are described as exhibiting a feature or characteristic does not meanthat other disclosed embodiments necessarily share that feature orcharacteristic.

This disclosure presents various mechanisms for collaborative worksystems. Such systems may involve software that enables multiple usersto work collaboratively. By way of one example, workflow managementsoftware may enable various members of a team to cooperate via a commononline platform. It is intended that one or more aspects of anymechanism may be combined with one or more aspect of any othermechanisms, and such combinations are within the scope of thisdisclosure.

This disclosure is constructed to provide a basic understanding of a fewexemplary embodiments with the understanding that features of theexemplary embodiments may be combined with other disclosed features ormay be incorporated into platforms or embodiments not described hereinwhile still remaining within the scope of this disclosure. Forconvenience, and form of the word “embodiment” as used herein isintended to refer to a single embodiment or multiple embodiments of thedisclosure.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein include devices, systems, andmethods for collaborative work systems that may allow a user to interactwith information in real time. To avoid repetition, the functionality ofsome embodiments is described herein solely in connection with aprocessor or at least one processor. It is to be understood that suchexemplary descriptions of functionality applies equally to methods andcomputer readable media and constitutes a written description ofsystems, methods, and computer readable media. The underlying platformmay allow a user to structure a systems, methods, or computer readablemedia in many ways using common building blocks, thereby permittingflexibility in constructing a product that suits desired needs. This maybe accomplished through the use of boards. A board may be a tableconfigured to contain items (e.g., individual items presented inhorizontal rows) defining objects or entities that are managed in theplatform (task, project, client, deal, etc.). Unless expressly notedotherwise, the terms “board” and “table” may be considered synonymousfor purposes of this disclosure. In some embodiments, a board maycontain information beyond which is displayed in a table. Boards mayinclude sub-boards that may have a separate structure from a board.Sub-boards may be tables with sub-items that may be related to the itemsof a board. Columns intersecting with rows of items may together definecells in which data associated with each item may be maintained. Eachcolumn may have a heading or label defining an associated data type.When used herein in combination with a column, a row may be presentedhorizontally and a column vertically. However, in the broader genericsense as used herein, the term “row” may refer to one or more of ahorizontal and/or a vertical presentation. A table or tablature as usedherein, refers to data presented in horizontal and vertical rows, (e.g.,horizontal rows and vertical columns) defining cells in which data ispresented. Tablature may refer to any structure for presenting data inan organized manner, as previously discussed. such as cells presented inhorizontal rows and vertical columns, vertical rows and horizontalcolumns, a tree data structure, a web chart, or any other structuredrepresentation, as explained throughout this disclosure. A cell mayrefer to a unit of information contained in the tablature defined by thestructure of the tablature. For example, a cell may be defined as anintersection between a horizontal row with a vertical column in atablature having rows and columns. A cell may also be defined as anintersection between a horizontal and a vertical row, or as anintersection between a horizontal and a vertical column. As a furtherexample, a cell may be defined as a node on a web chart or a node on atree data structure. As would be appreciated by a skilled artisan,however, the disclosed embodiments are not limited to any specificstructure, but rather may be practiced in conjunction with any desiredorganizational arrangement. In addition, tablature may include any typeof information, depending on intended use. When used in conjunction witha workflow management application, the tablature may include anyinformation associated with one or more tasks, such as one or morestatus values, projects, countries, persons, teams, progress statuses, acombination thereof, or any other information related to a task.

While a table view may be one way to present and manage the datacontained on a board, a table's or board's data may be presented indifferent ways. For example, in some embodiments, dashboards may beutilized to present or summarize data derived from one or more boards. Adashboard may be a non-table form of presenting data, using, forexample, static or dynamic graphical representations. A dashboard mayalso include multiple non-table forms of presenting data. As discussedlater in greater detail, such representations may include various formsof graphs or graphics. In some instances, dashboards (which may also bereferred to more generically as “widgets”) may include tablature.Software links may interconnect one or more boards with one or moredashboards thereby enabling the dashboards to reflect data presented onthe boards. This may allow, for example, data from multiple boards to bedisplayed and/or managed from a common location. These widgets mayprovide visualizations that allow a user to update data derived from oneor more boards.

Boards (or the data associated with boards) may be stored in a localmemory on a user device or may be stored in a local network repository.Boards may also be stored in a remote repository and may be accessedthrough a network. In some instances, permissions may be set to limitboard access to the board's “owner” while in other embodiments a user'sboard may be accessed by other users through any of the networksdescribed in this disclosure. When one user makes a change in a board,that change may be updated to the board stored in a memory or repositoryand may be pushed to the other user devices that access that same board.These changes may be made to cells, items, columns, boards, dashboardviews, logical rules, or any other data associated with the boards.Similarly, when cells are tied together or are mirrored across multipleboards, a change in one board may cause a cascading change in the tiedor mirrored boards or dashboards of the same or other owners.

Boards and widgets may be part of a platform that may enable users tointeract with information in real time in collaborative work systemsinvolving electronic collaborative word processing documents. Electroniccollaborative word processing documents (and other variations of theterm) as used herein are not limited to only digital files for wordprocessing, but may include any other processing document such aspresentation slides, tables, databases, graphics, sound files, videofiles or any other digital document or file. Electronic collaborativeword processing documents may include any digital file that may providefor input, editing, formatting, display, and/or output of text,graphics, widgets, objects, tables, links, animations, dynamicallyupdated elements, or any other data object that may be used inconjunction with the digital file. Any information stored on ordisplayed from an electronic collaborative word processing document maybe organized into blocks. A block may include any organizational unit ofinformation in a digital file, such as a single text character, word,sentence, paragraph, page, graphic, or any combination thereof. Blocksmay include static or dynamic information, and may be linked to othersources of data for dynamic updates. Blocks may be automaticallyorganized by the system, or may be manually selected by a user accordingto preference. In one embodiment, a user may select a segment of anyinformation in an electronic word processing document and assign it as aparticular block for input, editing, formatting, or any other furtherconfiguration.

An electronic collaborative word processing document may be stored inone or more repositories connected to a network accessible by one ormore users through their computing devices. In one embodiment, one ormore users may simultaneously edit an electronic collaborative wordprocessing document. The one or more users may access the electroniccollaborative word processing document through one or more user devicesconnected to a network. User access to an electronic collaborative wordprocessing document may be managed through permission settings set by anauthor of the electronic collaborative word processing document. Anelectronic collaborative word processing document may include graphicaluser interface elements enabled to support the input, display, andmanagement of multiple edits made by multiple users operatingsimultaneously within the same document.

Various embodiments are described herein with reference to a system,method, device, or computer readable medium. It is intended that thedisclosure of one is a disclosure of all. For example, it is to beunderstood that disclosure of a computer readable medium describedherein also constitutes a disclosure of methods implemented by thecomputer readable medium, and systems and devices for implementing thosemethods, via for example, at least one processor. It is to be understoodthat this form of disclosure is for ease of discussion only, and one ormore aspects of one embodiment herein may be combined with one or moreaspects of other embodiments herein, within the intended scope of thisdisclosure.

Embodiments described herein may refer to a non-transitory computerreadable medium containing instructions that when executed by at leastone processor, cause the at least one processor to perform a method.Non-transitory computer readable mediums may be any medium capable ofstoring data in any memory in a way that may be read by any computingdevice with a processor to carry out methods or any other instructionsstored in the memory. The non-transitory computer readable medium may beimplemented as hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof.Moreover, the software may preferably be implemented as an applicationprogram tangibly embodied on a program storage unit or computer readablemedium consisting of parts, or of certain devices and/or a combinationof devices. The application program may be uploaded to, and executed by,a machine comprising any suitable architecture. Preferably, the machinemay be implemented on a computer platform having hardware such as one ormore central processing units (“CPUs”), a memory, and input/outputinterfaces. The computer platform may also include an operating systemand microinstruction code. The various processes and functions describedin this disclosure may be either part of the microinstruction code orpart of the application program, or any combination thereof, which maybe executed by a CPU, whether or not such a computer or processor isexplicitly shown. In addition, various other peripheral units may beconnected to the computer platform such as an additional data storageunit and a printing unit. Furthermore, a non-transitory computerreadable medium may be any computer readable medium except for atransitory propagating signal.

The memory may include a Random Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory(ROM), a hard disk, an optical disk, a magnetic medium, a flash memory,other permanent, fixed, volatile or non-volatile memory, or any othermechanism capable of storing instructions. The memory may include one ormore separate storage devices collocated or disbursed, capable ofstoring data structures, instructions, or any other data. The memory mayfurther include a memory portion containing instructions for theprocessor to execute. The memory may also be used as a working scratchpad for the processors or as a temporary storage.

Some embodiments may involve at least one processor. A processor may beany physical device or group of devices having electric circuitry thatperforms a logic operation on input or inputs. For example, the at leastone processor may include one or more integrated circuits (IC),including application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), microchips,microcontrollers, microprocessors, all or part of a central processingunit (CPU), graphics processing unit (GPU), digital signal processor(DSP), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), server, virtual server, orother circuits suitable for executing instructions or performing logicoperations. The instructions executed by at least one processor may, forexample, be pre-loaded into a memory integrated with or embedded intothe controller or may be stored in a separate memory.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor may include more thanone processor. Each processor may have a similar construction, or theprocessors may be of differing constructions that are electricallyconnected or disconnected from each other. For example, the processorsmay be separate circuits or integrated in a single circuit. When morethan one processor is used, the processors may be configured to operateindependently or collaboratively. The processors may be coupledelectrically, magnetically, optically, acoustically, mechanically or byother means that permit them to interact.

Consistent with the present disclosure, disclosed embodiments mayinvolve a network. A network may constitute any type of physical orwireless computer networking arrangement used to exchange data. Forexample, a network may be the Internet, a private data network, avirtual private network using a public network, a Wi-Fi network, a LANor WAN network, and/or other suitable connections that may enableinformation exchange among various components of the system. In someembodiments, a network may include one or more physical links used toexchange data, such as Ethernet, coaxial cables, twisted pair cables,fiber optics, or any other suitable physical medium for exchanging data.A network may also include a public switched telephone network (“PSTN”)and/or a wireless cellular network. A network may be a secured networkor unsecured network. In other embodiments, one or more components ofthe system may communicate directly through a dedicated communicationnetwork. Direct communications may use any suitable technologies,including, for example, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTH LE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, nearfield communications (NFC), or other suitable communication methods thatprovide a medium for exchanging data and/or information between separateentities.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein may also include a computing devicefor generating features for work collaborative systems, the computingdevice may include processing circuitry communicatively connected to anetwork interface and to a memory, wherein the memory containsinstructions that, when executed by the processing circuitry, configurethe computing device to receive from a user device associated with auser account instruction to generate a new column of a single data typefor a first data structure, wherein the first data structure may be acolumn oriented data structure, and store, based on the instructions,the new column within the column-oriented data structure repository,wherein the column-oriented data structure repository may be accessibleand may be displayed as a display feature to the user and at least asecond user account. The computing devices may be devices such as mobiledevices, desktops, laptops, tablets, or any other devices capable ofprocessing data. Such computing devices may include a display such as anLED display, augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR) display.

Certain embodiments disclosed herein may include a processor configuredto perform methods that may include triggering an action in response toan input. The input may be from a user action or from a change ofinformation contained in a user's table, in another table, acrossmultiple tables, across multiple user devices, or from third-partyapplications. Triggering may be caused manually, such as through a useraction, or may be caused automatically, such as through a logical rule,logical combination rule, or logical templates associated with a board.For example, a trigger may include an input of a data item that isrecognized by at least one processor that brings about another action.

In some embodiments, the methods including triggering may cause analteration of data and may also cause an alteration of display of datacontained in a board or in memory. An alteration of data may include arecalculation of data, the addition of data, the subtraction of data, ora rearrangement of information. Further, triggering may also cause acommunication to be sent to a user, other individuals, or groups ofindividuals. The communication may be a notification within the systemor may be a notification outside of the system through a contact addresssuch as by email, phone call, text message, video conferencing, or anyother third-party communication application.

Some embodiments include one or more of automations, logical rules,logical sentence structures and logical (sentence structure) templates.While these terms are described herein in differing contexts, in abroadest sense, in each instance an automation may include a processthat responds to a trigger or condition to produce an outcome; a logicalrule may underly the automation in order to implement the automation viaa set of instructions; a logical sentence structure is one way for auser to define an automation; and a logical template/logical sentencestructure template may be a fill-in-the-blank tool used to construct alogical sentence structure. While all automations may have an underlyinglogical rule, all automations need not implement that rule through alogical sentence structure. Any other manner of defining a process thatrespond to a trigger or condition to produce an outcome may be used toconstruct an automation.

Other terms used throughout this disclosure in differing exemplarycontexts may generally share the following common definitions.

In some embodiments, machine learning algorithms (also referred to asmachine learning models or artificial intelligence in the presentdisclosure) may be trained using training examples, for example in thecases described below. Some non-limiting examples of such machinelearning algorithms may include classification algorithms, dataregressions algorithms, image segmentation algorithms, visual detectionalgorithms (such as object detectors, face detectors, person detectors,motion detectors, edge detectors, etc.), visual recognition algorithms(such as face recognition, person recognition, object recognition,etc.), speech recognition algorithms, mathematical embedding algorithms,natural language processing algorithms, support vector machines, randomforests, nearest neighbors algorithms, deep learning algorithms,artificial neural network algorithms, convolutional neural networkalgorithms, recursive neural network algorithms, linear machine learningmodels, non-linear machine learning models, ensemble algorithms, and soforth. For example, a trained machine learning algorithm may comprise aninference model, such as a predictive model, a classification model, aregression model, a clustering model, a segmentation model, anartificial neural network (such as a deep neural network, aconvolutional neural network, a recursive neural network, etc.), arandom forest, a support vector machine, and so forth. In some examples,the training examples may include example inputs together with thedesired outputs corresponding to the example inputs. Further, in someexamples, training machine learning algorithms using the trainingexamples may generate a trained machine learning algorithm, and thetrained machine learning algorithm may be used to estimate outputs forinputs not included in the training examples. In some examples,engineers, scientists, processes and machines that train machinelearning algorithms may further use validation examples and/or testexamples. For example, validation examples and/or test examples mayinclude example inputs together with the desired outputs correspondingto the example inputs, a trained machine learning algorithm and/or anintermediately trained machine learning algorithm may be used toestimate outputs for the example inputs of the validation examplesand/or test examples, the estimated outputs may be compared to thecorresponding desired outputs, and the trained machine learningalgorithm and/or the intermediately trained machine learning algorithmmay be evaluated based on a result of the comparison. In some examples,a machine learning algorithm may have parameters and hyper parameters,where the hyper parameters are set manually by a person or automaticallyby a process external to the machine learning algorithm (such as a hyperparameter search algorithm), and the parameters of the machine learningalgorithm are set by the machine learning algorithm according to thetraining examples. In some implementations, the hyper-parameters are setaccording to the training examples and the validation examples, and theparameters are set according to the training examples and the selectedhyper-parameters.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an exemplary computing device 100 forgenerating a column and/or row oriented data structure repository fordata consistent with some embodiments. The computing device 100 mayinclude processing circuitry 110, such as, for example, a centralprocessing unit (CPU). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 110may include, or may be a component of, a larger processing unitimplemented with one or more processors. The one or more processors maybe implemented with any combination of general-purpose microprocessors,microcontrollers, digital signal processors (DSPs), field programmablegate array (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), controllers,state machines, gated logic, discrete hardware components, dedicatedhardware finite state machines, or any other suitable entities that canperform calculations or other manipulations of information. Theprocessing circuitry such as processing circuitry 110 may be coupled viaa bus 105 to a memory 120.

The memory 120 may further include a memory portion 122 that may containinstructions that when executed by the processing circuitry 110, mayperform the method described in more detail herein. The memory 120 maybe further used as a working scratch pad for the processing circuitry110, a temporary storage, and others, as the case may be. The memory 120may be a volatile memory such as, but not limited to, random accessmemory (RAM), or non-volatile memory (NVM), such as, but not limited to,flash memory. The processing circuitry 110 may be further connected to anetwork device 140, such as a network interface card, for providingconnectivity between the computing device 100 and a network, such as anetwork 210, discussed in more detail with respect to FIG. 2 below. Theprocessing circuitry 110 may be further coupled with a storage device130. The storage device 130 may be used for the purpose of storingsingle data type column-oriented data structures, data elementsassociated with the data structures, or any other data structures. Whileillustrated in FIG. 1 as a single device, it is to be understood thatstorage device 130 may include multiple devices either collocated ordistributed.

The processing circuitry 110 and/or the memory 120 may also includemachine-readable media for storing software. “Software” as used hereinrefers broadly to any type of instructions, whether referred to assoftware, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware descriptionlanguage, or otherwise. Instructions may include code (e.g., in sourcecode format, binary code format, executable code format, or any othersuitable format of code). The instructions, when executed by the one ormore processors, may cause the processing system to perform the variousfunctions described in further detail herein.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of computing architecture 200 that may be usedin connection with various disclosed embodiments. The computing device100, as described in connection with FIG. 1, may be coupled to network210. The network 210 may enable communication between different elementsthat may be communicatively coupled with the computing device 100, asfurther described below. The network 210 may include the Internet, theworld-wide-web (WWW), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network(WAN), a metro area network (MAN), and other networks capable ofenabling communication between the elements of the computingarchitecture 200. In some disclosed embodiments, the computing device100 may be a server deployed in a cloud computing environment.

One or more user devices 220-1 through user device 220-m, where ‘m’ inan integer equal to or greater than 1, referred to individually as userdevice 220 and collectively as user devices 220, may be communicativelycoupled with the computing device 100 via the network 210. A user device220 may be for example, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a laptop, atablet computer, a wearable computing device, a personal computer (PC),a smart television and the like. A user device 220 may be configured tosend to and receive from the computing device 100 data and/or metadataassociated with a variety of elements associated with single data typecolumn-oriented data structures, such as columns, rows, cells, schemas,and the like.

One or more data repositories 230-1 through data repository 230-n, where‘n’ in an integer equal to or greater than 1, referred to individuallyas data repository 230 and collectively as data repository 230, may becommunicatively coupled with the computing device 100 via the network210, or embedded within the computing device 100. Each data repository230 may be communicatively connected to the network 210 through one ormore database management services (DBMS) 235-1 through DBMS 235-n. Thedata repository 230 may be for example, a storage device containing adatabase, a data warehouse, and the like, that may be used for storingdata structures, data items, metadata, or any information, as furtherdescribed below. In some embodiments, one or more of the repositoriesmay be distributed over several physical storage devices, e.g., in acloud-based computing environment. Any storage device may be a networkaccessible storage device, or a component of the computing device 100.

FIG. 3 is an exemplary embodiment of a presentation of an electroniccollaborative word processing document 301 via an editing interface oreditor 300. The editor 300 may include any user interface components 302through 312 to assist with input or modification of information in anelectronic collaborative word processing document 301. For example,editor 300 may include an indication of an entity 312, which may includeat least one individual or group of individuals associated with anaccount for accessing the electronic collaborative word processingdocument. User interface components may provide the ability to format atitle 302 of the electronic collaborative word processing document,select a view 304, perform a lookup for additional features 306, view anindication of other entities 308 accessing the electronic collaborativeword processing document at a certain time (e.g., at the same time or ata recorded previous time), and configure permission access 310 to theelectronic collaborative word processing document. The electroniccollaborative word processing document 301 may include information thatmay be organized into blocks as previously discussed. For example, ablock 320 may itself include one or more blocks of information. Eachblock may have similar or different configurations or formats accordingto a default or according to user preferences. For example, block 322may be a “Title Block” configured to include text identifying a title ofthe document, and may also contain, embed, or otherwise link to metadataassociated with the title. A block may be pre-configured to displayinformation in a particular format (e.g., in bold font). Other blocks inthe same electronic collaborative word processing document 301, such ascompound block 320 or input block 324 may be configured differently fromtitle block 322. As a user inputs information into a block, either viainput block 324 or a previously entered block, the platform may providean indication of the entity 318 responsible for inputting or alteringthe information. The entity responsible for inputting or altering theinformation in the electronic collaborative word processing document mayinclude any entity accessing the document, such as an author of thedocument or any other collaborator who has permission to access thedocument.

Some aspects of this disclosure may relate to a granular permissionssystem for shared electronic documents, including methods, systems,devices, and computer readable media. For ease of discussion, a systemis described below, with the understanding that aspects of the systemapply equally to non-transitory computer readable media, methods, anddevices. Shared electronic documents, as used herein, are not limited toonly digital files for word processing but may include any otherprocessing document such as presentation slides, tables, databases,graphics, sound files, video files or any other digital document orfile. Shared electronic documents may include any digital file that mayprovide for input, editing, formatting, display, and output of text,graphics, widgets, objects, tables, links, animations, dynamicallyupdated elements, or any other data object that may be used inconjunction with the digital file. Shared electronic documents may becollaborative documents or non-collaborative documents. A collaborativedocument, as used herein, may refer to any document that may enablesimultaneous viewing and editing by multiple entities. A collaborativedocument may, for example, be generated in or uploaded to a commononline platform (e.g., a website) to enable multiple members of a teamto contribute to preparing and editing the document. A non-collaborativedocument, as used herein, may refer to any document that only a singleentity may modify, prepare, and edit at a time. The single entity mayshare the non-collaborative document with other entities (e.g., anend-user or audience) to enable the other entities to view or edit thesame document.

Granular permissions, as used herein, may refer to any attribute orsetting that may define how an entity or entities may interact with anyamount of content associated with a section or portion of a sharedelectronic document. Content, as used herein, may refer to anyinformation displayed in a section or portion of a shared electronicdocument or any other information that may be associated with a sectionor portion of a shared electronic document. For example, content mayinclude data objects, alphanumerics, metadata, or any other dataassociated with a section or portion of a shared electronic document.Such interactions may involve viewing, editing, navigating, executing,or any other user task involving the content associated with thedocument. The sections or portions of the shared electronic document mayinclude one or more data objects. Non-limiting examples of granularpermissions may involve attributes or settings that authorize an entityor entities to view or edit a single character of text, a line of text,several lines of text, a table, a portion of a video, a portion of anaudio file associated with the document, or any other selectable portionof the document. Permissions may be said to be configurable on agranular level because permissions may be configured for any selectedsegment of information (e.g., a block, as discussed in detail later)contained in a document, and not just a general permission setting forthe entire document. Other non-limiting examples of granular permissionsmay involve attributes or settings that authorize an entity or entitiesto view or edit a sentence, paragraph, an image, or a chart associatedwith the document. In some embodiments, the granular permission settingsmay be reconfigured after a particular setting has been applied. Forexample, a single electronic document may contain a first portion oftext with a first permission setting and a second portion of text with asecond permission setting. The first permission setting may beconfigured to enable only the document author to view and access thefirst portion of text while the second permission setting may beconfigured to enable any user to view and access the second portion oftext. As a result, the document author would be able to view and accessboth the first and second portions of text in the document, while asecondary user would only be able to view and access the second portionof text. The document author may then reconfigure the permission settingto access the first portion of text to authorize any secondary user toview that first portion of text at a later time. Similarly, thepermission settings to access the second portion of text may bereconfigured to restrict access to certain users by predetermined userssuch as the document author.

By way of example, FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate examples of a sharedelectronic document with granular permissions. Referring to FIG. 4A, theshared electronic document 400A may be a collaborative electronic wordprocessing document. The document 400A may include an indication of anentity 402A accessing the document via an editing interface 404A. Theindicator 406A may indicate to an accessing entity, such as entity 402A,all of the entities accessing the shared electronic document at thattime, or at any other time (e.g., the indicator may display a lastaccessed time stamp for a particular entity). The document 400A mayfurther include a first section 408A (e.g., a first block) and a secondsection 410A (e.g., a second block), each of which may includeinformation such as a single string or multiple strings of text. Thefirst section 408A and the second section 410A may, by way of example,have associated granular permissions authorizing entity 402A to view, orview and edit, the content associated with both the first and secondsections.

Referring now to FIG. 4B, the shared electronic document 400A may beaccessed by a second entity 402B via an editing interface 404B. Thefirst section 408A (shown in FIG. 4A) and the second section 410A may,for example, have associated granular permissions that do not authorizeentity 402B to view or otherwise access the content associated with thefirst section 408A, but do authorize entity 402B to view, or view andedit, the content associated with the section 410A. As a result, thesecond entity 402B may be presented with an alternative display ofelectronic document 400A with less information than in a display of thesame electronic document 400A to entity 402A in FIG. 4A.

Some aspects of this disclosure may include enabling access to anelectronic word processing document including blocks of text. Anelectronic word processing document may include any digital file thatmay provide for input, editing, formatting, display, and output of text(e.g., alphanumerics) and other content, such as graphics, widgets,objects, tables, links, animations, dynamically updated elements, or anyother data object that may be used in conjunction with the digital file.An electronic word processing document may be a collaborative documentor a non-collaborative document, as previously described with referenceto shared electronic documents. Enabling access to the electronic workprocessing document, as used herein, may refer to one or more ofproviding authorization for retrieving information contained in theelectronic work processing document that may be stored in a repositoryso that the information may be transmitted, manipulated, and/ordisplayed on a hardware device. The system may, for example, beconfigured to enable access to an electronic word processing documentwhen an entity requests permission to retrieve information in theelectronic word processing document. Accessing an electronic wordprocessing document may include retrieving the electronic wordprocessing document from a storage medium, such as a local storagemedium or a remote storage medium. A local storage medium may bemaintained, for example, on a local computing device, on a localnetwork, or on a resource such as a server within or connected to alocal network. A remote storage medium may be maintained in the cloud,or at any other location other than a local network. In someembodiments, accessing the electronic word processing document mayinclude retrieving the electronic word processing document from a webbrowser cache. Additionally or alternatively, accessing the electronicword processing document may include accessing a live data stream of theelectronic word processing document from a remote source. In someembodiments, accessing the electronic word processing document mayinclude logging into an account having a permission to access thedocument. For example, accessing the electronic word processing documentmay be achieved by interacting with an indication associated with theelectronic word processing document, such as an icon or file name, whichmay cause the system to retrieve (e.g., from a storage medium) aparticular electronic word processing document associated with theindication.

As used herein, blocks of text may refer to any organizational unit oftext or any other information that may be included in an electronic wordprocessing document. For example, blocks of text may contain one or moreof a single letter, number, or symbol; a combination of letters,numbers, or symbols; a sentence; multiple sentences; a paragraph;multiple paragraphs; or any other combination of characters groupedtogether. Blocks of text may include static or dynamic text and may belinked to other sources of data for dynamic updates. Blocks of text maybe manually defined by an entity according to preference or may beautomatically defined by the system. The entity may, for example, selectany text and assign it as a single block of text. Alternatively, thesystem may, for example, define block of text as text separated by acarriage return, text separated by a space, text in a text box, text ina column, or text grouped together in any other manner. Blocks of textmay further be configured to enable an entity to alter the order inwhich the blocks of text appear on a document. As used herein, anassociated address of a block of text may refer to any identifierassociated with a specific block of text that identifies a specificmemory location, such as in a repository. In some exemplary embodiments,the associated address may be, for example, a fixed-length sequence ofdigits displayed and manipulated as unsigned integers that enables thesystem to store information associated with a block of text at aparticular location designated by the associated address. In someembodiments, each address may include at least one of a block-associatedtag, block-associated metadata, or a block-associated location. Ablock-associated tag, as used herein, may refer to a keyword, symbol, orterm assigned to one or more blocks of text, or any other classificationdesignation. For example, a block-associated tag may include words,images, or any other identifying marks. In some embodiments, ablock-associated tag may be assigned manually by an entity or may bechosen from a controlled vocabulary. In other embodiments, ablock-associated tag may be assigned by the system upon contextualdetermination of the information contained in a particular block. Forexample, if a block of text contains information regarding the name of asports team, the system may automatically determine that the informationin the block contains sports information and associate ablock-associated tag with that block that indicates the block is relatedto sports information. Block-associated metadata, as used herein, mayrefer to any data providing information about one of more blocks oftext. For example, block-associated metadata may include descriptivemetadata, structural metadata, administrative metadata, referencemetadata, statistical metadata, legal metadata, or a combinationthereof. For example, a block may have associated metadata to indicatean author of the information in that block. As a result, that block mayhave block-associated metadata that is associated with that block torecord an identification for that author. Block-associated location, asused herein, may refer to location based data associated with aparticular block. The location based data may be based on data containedin the specific block itself (e.g., the block contains text indicatingan address in Switzerland), or the block may store location informationbased on the location of the author of the block (e.g., a documentauthor generates a block of text from their computing device based inCanada, resulting in a block-associated location of Canada with thatblock). Each address may include any combination of the block-associatedtags, metadata, and locations such that when a computing deviceaccessing information in a block at a particular address, the computingdevice may also access the associated tags, metadata, and locationassociated data with that block.

By way of example, FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an electronic wordprocessing document including blocks of text. The system may, forexample, enable access to an electronic word processing document bygenerating the document in response to an entity selecting, via theediting interface 500, the “New Doc” button 502 in pop-out menu 504. Thegeneration of the electronic word processing document may be achieved byan application running on a computing device (e.g., the computing device100 in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). The application may generate the document forrendering on a display of a user device (e.g., the user device 220-1,220-2, or 220-m in FIG. 2).

As shown in FIG. 5, the electronic word processing document 506 mayinclude blocks of text 508 to 512. The blocks 508 and 510 include thetext “First Block ABC” and “Second Block XYZ,” respectively. The new orinput block 512 has no text added yet and prompts an entity to “Writesomething or type “I” for more options.” A new block of text may begenerated, for example, in response to an entity selecting an unoccupiedarea of the document 506; entering a line break by, for example,clicking “enter” on a computer keyboard; or combining existing blocks oftext 508 to 512. An entity, with proper permissions, may edit thearrangement order in which the blocks of text appear on the document 506by, for example, clicking and dragging the drag button 516, which mayappear near a selected block of text.

Some disclosed embodiments may further include accessing at least onedata structure containing block-based permissions for each block oftext, and wherein the permissions include at least one permission toview an associated block of text. Block-based permissions, as usedherein, may refer to any attribute or setting associated with one ormore blocks of text that defines how an entity or entities may interactwith the content of the block or blocks of text. Such interactions mayinvolve viewing, editing, navigating, executing, or any other user taskinvolving the content of the block or blocks of text. The content of ablock may include, for example, one or more of text, audio, graphics,icons, tables, charts, widgets, links, or any other item, whether staticor dynamic, contained in each block of text, or any other informationthat may be associated with each block of text (e.g., metadata).

Consistent with the present disclosure, a data structure may include anyrepository storing a collection of data values and relationships amongthem. For example, the data structure may store information on one ormore of a server, local memory, or any other repository suitable forstoring any of the data that may be associated with block-basedpermissions or any other data items. The data structure may containpermissions for each block of text or alternatively, may containpermissions associated with a range of blocks of text. For example, thefirst three blocks of text may have the same permissions and the nextthree blocks of text may have the same permissions. In addition, thedata structure may contain one or more of the associated address, theblock-associated tag, the block-associated metadata, theblock-associated location, or any other information related to theblock-based permissions for each block of text. Accessing the datastructure may include receiving a request to retrieve informationcontained in the data structure, which may store the informationrelative to permission settings for each block of text in an electronicdocument. The data structure may contain information relating topermission settings for one or more blocks associated with an electronicdocument such that the system may only need to perform a single look-upfor the permissions that a user has for accessing any of the blocks ofinformation associated with one or more electronic documents. Forexample, information in a data structure may be stored in the form of astorage medium, such as a local storage medium or a remote storagemedium, as discussed previously above. A local storage medium may bemaintained, for example, on a local computing device, on a localnetwork, or on a resource such as a server within or connected to alocal network. A remote storage medium may be maintained in the cloud,or at any other location other than a local network. In someembodiments, accessing the data structure may include retrieving thedata or information from a web browser cache. Additionally oralternatively, accessing the information may include accessing a livedata stream of the data from a remote source. In some embodiments,accessing the data structure may include logging into an account havinga permission to access information located in an electronic wordprocessing document. For example, accessing the electronic wordprocessing document in a data structure may be achieved by interactingwith an indication associated with the electronic word processingdocument, such as an icon or file name, which may cause the system toretrieve (e.g., from a storage medium) a particular electronic wordprocessing document associated with the indication.

Permission to view, as used herein, may refer to providing authority toone or more entities to retrieve or inspect the information in anassociated block of text. A block of text may have one or morepermission settings to view the information contained in the blockaccording to different types of users, or specific users. In exemplaryembodiments, the permission to view information may be a defaultpermission for one or more blocks of text. A default permission mayrefer to a permission or permissions automatically assigned to one ormore blocks of text by the system when it enables access to thedocument, such as in response to an entity requesting generation of anew document, as previously described. For example, a default permissionmay only allow document authors permission to view one or more blocks oftext. In other exemplary embodiments, one or more entities, such asdocument authors or other entities, may define a block-based permissionto provide one or more entities permission to view one or more blocks oftext. For example, the system may receive, from the document author, aselection of one or more blocks and an instruction to associate orassign at least one permission with the selected blocks authorizing oneor more entities to view the blocks of text. Each block may havemultiple permission settings enabling different entities to accessdifferent amounts of information in each block.

FIG. 6 illustrates one example of an electronic word processing documentincluding blocks of text having associated block-based permissions. Theelectronic word processing document 600 may be a non-collaborativedocument, such that entity 602 may be the only entity that may edit thedocument contents. Entity 602 may, however, share the non-collaborativedocument 600 with other entities (e.g., end-users or an audience) view,edit, or otherwise access the document. For example, entity 602 mayselect the “share” button 604 and send an email or link to otherentities inviting them to view, edit, or access the document.

Referring to FIG. 6, the electronic word processing document 600 mayfurther include blocks of text 606 to 612. Each block of text 606 to 612may or may not have default block-based permissions. In someembodiments, default block-based permissions may allow any entity towhom the document 600 is shared to view blocks of text 606 to 612. Inother embodiments, default block-based permissions may, for example,prohibit or limit any entity to whom the document 600 is shared to viewblocks of text 606 to 612.

Referring again to FIG. 6, entity 602 may select each block of text (orselect multiple blocks at once) and define or alter the defaultblock-based permissions associated with each block of text. For example,blocks of text 610 and 612 may include the social security numbers“111-XY-222” and “222-YZ-333” respectively. Entity 602 may setblock-based permissions associated with these blocks to allow only teammembers in a human resources department to view these blocks, whereasall team members may have permission to view blocks 606 and 608. Theblock-based permissions for each block of text 606 to 612 may becontained in at least one data structure (e.g., in storage 130,repository 230-1, repository 230-n of FIGS. 1 and 2) associated with theelectronic word processing document 600. Entity 602 may subsequentlyshare the electronic word processing document with several team members,some of which may be team members in the human resources department. Ifa team member is not in the human resources department, blocks of text610 and 612 may not be rendered on the display (e.g., omitted fromdisplay or redacted) associated with the team member. However, if theteam member is in the human resources department, each block of text,including blocks 610 and 612 may be rendered on the display associatedwith the team member.

In some embodiments, at least one data structure may be configured tomaintain identities of document authors, and the document authors may beenabled to define block permissions. As used herein, document authorsmay refer to any originator or owner of an electronic word processingdocument. If the document is a non-collaborative document, the documentauthor may refer to a single entity who generates, drafts, writes,produces, revises, or edits the document in any other manner.Alternatively, if the document is a collaborative document, documentauthors may refer to the entity or entities responsible for initiallycreating the document or the entity or entities who maintain ownershipof the document. As used herein, maintain identities of document authorsmay refer to storing information related with the document authors in adata structure associated with the document. The stored information mayinclude any unique identifier capable of distinguishing among documentauthors and other entities with access to the document. For example, theunique identifier may be an author token, a session ID, a username, anIP address associated with a document authors device, or any otherinformation capable of distinguishing among document authors and otherentities with access to the document. Enabled to define blockpermissions, as used herein, may refer to authorizing document authorsto set, describe, establish, designate, alter, or otherwise give meaningto block-based permissions associated with each block of text. Definingblock permissions may involve, for example, selecting one or more blocksof text and then selecting among various permissions or describing thepermission or permissions to apply to one or more entities. In someembodiments, the at least one processor may perform a lookup in the datastructure containing the identities of document authors to determinewhether an entity seeking to define a block-based permission is adocument author, and based on the lookup, either allow or prohibit theentity to define the block-based permission.

For example, referring again to the electronic word processing document600 illustrated in FIG. 6, the entity 602 accessing the document 600 viaan editing interface 622 may or may not be a document author. The atleast one processor may perform a lookup in a data structure (e.g., instorage 130, repository 230-1, repository 230-n of FIGS. 1 and 2)containing unique identifiers for all document authors of the electronicword processing document 600. If the at least one processor determinesthat the entity 602 accessing the document via the editing interface 622is not a document author, the drop-down menu 616 may display disabled(i.e., greyed out) menu items “Set Permission(s) for Selected Block(s)”618 and “Set Permissions for All Blocks” 620 or may omit both menu itemsfrom the drop-down menu 616. Alternatively, if the at least oneprocessor determines that the entity 602 accessing the document via theediting interface 622 is a document author, the editing interface 622may display an interface component enabling the entity 602 to defineblock permissions. For example, the entity 602 may select the menu arrow614 to open drop-down menu 616, which may contain the menu items “SetPermission(s) for Selected Block(s)” 618 and “Set Permissions for AllBlocks” 620. Selecting block 606, block 608, and menu item 618 may, forexample, open a new interface, enabling the document author to configurethe permissions associated with blocks 606 and 608 for one or moreentities.

By way of example, FIG. 7 illustrates one example of an interface 700for defining block-based permissions for block 606 in FIG. 6. Theinterface 700 may include an input box 702 in which entity 602 (fromFIG. 6) may input, for example, a name, email, or department name. Forexample, entity 602 may input “Entity XYZ” into input box 702. Inresponse to the system receiving a valid entry, the interface 700 maydisplay radio buttons 704 and 706, corresponding to a permission to viewand a permission to edit, respectively. Entity 602 may select ordeselect either radio button 704 and 706 (in this exemplary embodiment,the entity cannot select both because permission to edit implicitlyincludes permission to view) and select an apply button 708 to activatethe defined permission associated with blocks 606 and 608 (in FIG. 6)for “Entity XYZ.”

In some embodiments, an electronic word processing document may be acollaborative document and at least one processor may be configured toreceive an added block from an editing entity and to enable the editingentity to set block permissions for an added block. An editing entity,as used herein, may refer to any account or computing device associatedwith one or more users with permission to select, revise, organize,arrange, rearrange, change, add, or otherwise modify the content of oneor more blocks. An entity may refer to an individual, a device, a team,an organization, a group, a department, a division, a subsidiary, acompany, a contractor, an agent or representative, or any other thingwith independent and distinct existence. An editing entity may includeone or more document authors of a collaborative document or one or moreentities with permission to simultaneously edit one or more blocks of acollaborative document. An added block, as used herein, may refer to anyaddition of information in a segment or block newly generated by anediting entity. In some embodiments, an editing entity may insert anadded block by selecting an unoccupied area of the collaborativedocument or by selecting a user interface item to input a new block(e.g., new block icon). In other exemplary embodiments, the editingentity may insert an added block by generating a line break by, forexample, clicking “enter” on a computer keyboard coupled to the entity'suser device; by pasting copied content from other documents in thecollaborative document; or by dragging and dropping content from otherdocuments into the collaborative document. permitting the editing entityto set block permissions for the added block, as used herein, may referto authorizing any editing entity beyond the document author toconfigure, assign, describe, establish, designate, alter, or otherwisegive meaning to the block permissions associated with the added block inan electronic document owned by the document author. Setting blockpermissions for the added block may involve selecting the added block oftext and then selecting among various permissions or describing thepermission or permissions to apply to one or more entities. In someembodiments, the at least one processor may be configured to permit theediting entity to set a permission blocking an author of the documentfrom viewing the added block. Blocking an author of the document fromviewing the added block, as used herein, may refer to prohibiting orlimiting a document author from examining, observing, reading, looking,inspecting, or otherwise accessing any information contained in a blockadded by an editing entity. For example, a document author may becollaborating with a second entity on an electronic document (e.g., acollaborating entity who is not an author of the electronic document).While a document author may typically be able to access all informationinserted by the second entity to the electronic document, the secondentity may have the option to prevent or limit the document author'sability to view information in a block added by the second entity forany number of reasons (e.g., the second entity is still inserting adraft of the information in the block and may not wish to make itavailable to all collaborators on the document).

By way of example, FIG. 8 illustrates an exemplary electronic wordprocessing document that may be configured as a collaborative documentcontaining blocks. The collaborative document 800 may include anindication of an editing entity 802 accessing the document via anediting interface 804. The editing entity 802 may or may not be adocument author. The indicator 806 may indicate to the entity 802 thatother entities are currently accessing the document, some of which maybe document authors or other entities that have permission tosimultaneously edit the blocks, create additional blocks, or both. Thecollaborative document 800 may further include blocks 808 to 812. Blocks808 and 810 may be previously entered blocks. Editing entity 802 mayhave recently created added block 812 by, for example, selecting thearea of the document now occupied by added block 812. The editing entity812 may enter any organizational unit of information, such as a symbol,letter, word, sentence, paragraph, page, graphic, or any combinationthereof, in the added block 812. As editing entity 812 inputs or altersthe content of added block 812, the system may render an indicator 813(e.g., a graphical indicator, alphanumeric text, or a combinationthereof) next to the block to indicate to other entities currentlyaccessing the collaborative document 800 that editing entity 802 isresponsible for inputting or altering the content. The editing entity812 may select the added block 812 and select the menu arrow 814 to opena drop-down menu 816, which may contain menu item “Set Permission(s) forSelected Block(s)” 818. Selecting menu item 818 may, for example, openan interface enabling the editing entity to configure the permissionsfor one or more entities, which may or may not include document authors.For example, the interface may be the interface 700 for definingblock-based permissions in FIG. 7, as discussed previously above.

In some embodiments, an electronic word processing document may includegraphical objects, and block-based permissions may include restrictionson viewing the graphical objects. As used herein, graphical objects mayrefer to a rendering of one more visual representations of informationthat may or may not include alphanumerics. For example, graphicalobjects may include charts, graphs, shapes, images, photographs,pictures, symbols, icons, or any other representation that may bedisplayed, or a combination thereof. Graphical objects may betwo-dimensional or three-dimensional and may be static or dynamic.Restrictions on viewing, as used herein, may refer to prohibiting orlimiting one or more entities from examining, observing, reading,looking, inspecting, or accessing graphical objects contained in one ormore blocks. In some exemplary embodiments, the restrictions on viewingmay be a default permission for one or more blocks containing graphicalobjects. In other exemplary embodiments, one or more entities may definea block-based permission to restrict one or more entities from viewinggraphical objects in one or more blocks of text.

By way of example, FIG. 9 illustrates an electronic word processingdocument including graphical objects. The electronic word processingdocument 900 may include an indication of an entity 902 accessing thedocument via an editing interface 904. Entity 902 may or may not be adocument author of the document 900. The document 900 may include blocks906 to 910. Block 906 may include text, such as “Block ABC.” Blocks 908and 910 may include one or more graphical objects. For example, block908 may include line graph 912 and bar chart 914, and block 910 mayinclude table 916. The block-based permissions for blocks 906 to 910 mayrestrict specific entities from viewing one or more blocks. For example,the permissions may restrict all entities other than the documentauthor, entity 902, from viewing block 910, which includes the table916. The block-based permissions may apply to entities based on the typeof block (e.g., restrictions may be applied only to blocks containingonly graphical objects or only text objects), or based on any particularselection of blocks.

Aspects of the disclosure may include receiving from an entity a requestto access an electronic word processing document. As used herein, anentity may refer to an individual, a device, a team, an organization, agroup, a department, a division, a subsidiary, a company, a contractor,an agent or representative, or any other thing with independent anddistinct existence, as discussed above. A request to access, as usedherein, may refer to a signal containing instructions to a gainauthorization or entry to download, upload, copy, extract, update, edit,view, or otherwise receive or manipulate data or information associatedwith the electronic word processing document. The request to access maybe in one or more digital, electronic, or photonic signals that may begenerated in the form of a voice command, gesture, touch, tap, swipe,cursor selection, cursor scrolling, or a combination thereof from acomputing device associated with an entity (e.g., a document author or acollaborating editor). For example, the entity may request to access theelectronic word processing document by attempting to open an instance ofthe document via a web application. Alternatively, the entity mayrequest to access the electronic word processing document by enteringauthentication or credential information, such as a username andpassword. In another exemplary embodiment, the entity may request toaccess the word processing document by accessing a link associated withthe document.

For example, referring again to the electronic word processing documentillustrated in FIG. 6, the entity 602 accessing the document 600 via anediting interface 622 may share the document 600 with a second entity.For example, entity 602 may select the “Share” button 604, which maycause a new interface to be displayed enabling entity 602 to enter thesecond entity's email address to which an email with a link to accessthe document 600 will be delivered to the second entity. The system mayreceive a request to access the document 600 when, for example, thesecond entity selects the link.

Some disclosed embodiments may include performing a lookup in at leastone data structure to determine that an entity lacks permission to viewat least one specific block within an electronic word processingdocument. Performing a lookup, as used herein, may refer to an action,process, or instance of retrieving or searching in the at least on datastructure containing block-based permissions. In some embodiments, theat least one processor may automatically perform a lookup in a remoterepository in response to receiving a request from an entity to accessan electronic word processing document. For example, performing a lookupmay involve retrieving an address associated with a specific block in anelectronic word processing document, where the address may include anaccess point for a data structure containing data and informationrelating to the specific block and the electronic word processingdocument. The system may then compare an entity identification (e.g., anaccount name, an IP address, or any other identifier) to a list ofpre-authorized entities in the data structure to determine whether thereis a match. The system may perform the lookup and determine a matchbetween an entity identification with one of the pre-authorized entitiesin the data structure and determine that the entity has partial or fullauthorization to retrieve, view, and/or access the informationassociated with the specific block. In other embodiments, the datastructure may contain a list of unauthorized entities such that when thesystem performs a lookup and determines that an accessing entity matchesone of the unauthorized entities in the list, the system may reduce orcompletely restrict access to the information associated with thespecific block. An entity lacking permission to view, as used herein,may refer to an entity without authority to retrieve or inspect theinformation in an associated block of text. For example, the at leastone data structure may contain a list of usernames corresponding toentities, including the document author or authors, that may beauthorized to view information in a specific block. The system mayperform a lookup in the at least one data structure to determine whetherthe username associated with entity accessing the electronic wordprocessing document is included in the list of usernames. If the systemdetermines, based on the lookup, that that the username associated withthe accessing entity is not included in the list of authorized entities,the system may determine that the accessing entity lacks authority toview the specific block. In some embodiments, an absence of a recordedpermission in the at least one data structure for a particular block mayconstitute an unrestricted permission for the particular block. Absenceof a recorded permission, as used herein, may refer to the nonexistenceor lack of a permission setting in the at least one data structure for aparticular block. A recorded permission for a particular block may beabsent for one or more entities. For example, the at least one datastructure may have a recorded permission for one entity to view or edita particular block of text but lack a recorded permission associatedwith the particular block for other entities. Alternatively, the atleast one data structure may, for example, lack a recorded permissionfor all entities. Unrestricted permission for the particular block, asused herein, may refer to authorization to interact with and access thecontent of the block in any manner without any limitations. For example,unrestricted permission for the particular block may allow any entityaccessing a document to view, edit, navigate, execute, or perform anyother task involving the content of the particular block.

Some disclosed embodiments may further include causing to be rendered ona display associated with an entity, an electronic word processingdocument with the at least one specific block omitted from the display.Causing to be rendered on a display associated with the entity, as usedherein, may include providing the electronic word processing document tothe entity by outputting one or more signals configured to result in thepresentation of the electronic word processing document on a screen,other surface, through a projection, or in a virtual space associatedwith the entity. This may occur, for example, on one or more of atouchscreen, a monitor, AR or VR display, or any other means previouslydiscussed and discussed further below. The electronic word processingdocument may be presented, for example, via a display screen associatedwith the entity's computing device, such as a PC, laptop, tablet,projector, cell phone, or personal wearable device. The electronic wordprocessing document may also be presented virtually through AR or VRglasses, or through a holographic display. Other mechanisms ofpresenting may also be used to enable the entity to visually comprehendthe presented information. The electronic word processing document mayappear as a new window, as a pop-up, or in other manner for presentingthe document on a display associated with the entity. Omitting from thedisplay, as used herein, may refer to leaving out, excluding, redacting,obscuring, or reducing information in at least one block from thedisplay of the electronic word processing document. For example, the atleast one processor may omit a block from the display if the at leastone data structure contains a block-based permission not authorizing theentity to view one or more blocks of the electronic word processingdocument. In some embodiments, one or more display signals for theomitted block will not be transmitted to the display associated with theuser. In other instances, the one or more display signals may be alteredto redact or blur the omitted block.

For example, referring again to the electronic word processing documentillustrated in FIG. 6, the entity 602 may define block-based permissionsfor blocks of text 610 and 612. The block-based permissions may, forexample, allow only team members in a human resources department to viewblocks 610 and 612. Entity 602 may subsequently share the electronicword processing document with several team members, which may or may notbe in the human resources department. By way of example, FIGS. 10A to10C illustrate examples of the electronic word processing document 600illustrated in FIG. 6 with one or more blocks of text omitted from thedisplay associated with team member 1002A not in the human resourcesdepartment. Referring to FIG. 10A, blocks 610 and 612 (shown in FIG. 6)may be absent from the display associated with entity 1002A.Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 10B, the blocks 610 and 612 may beredacted from the display associated with entity 1002A. In anotherexample, as shown in FIG. 10C, the blocks 610 and 612 may be blurredfrom the display associated with entity 1002A.

In some embodiments, a data structure may include separate permissionsfor viewing and editing. Separate permissions, as used herein, may referto distinct attributes or settings that define how an entity or entitiesmay interact with the content of the block or blocks of text. Suchinteractions may involve viewing and editing content in an electronicdocument. Permissions for viewing may refer to any attribute or settingassociated with a block of text that authorizes one or more entities toexamine, observe, read, look, inspect, or otherwise see the content ofthe associated block of text. Permissions for editing, as used herein,may refer to any attribute or setting associated with a block of textthat authorizes one or more entities to select, revise, organize,arrange, rearrange, change, add, or otherwise modify in any way thecontents of the associated block. In some exemplary embodiments, theseparate permissions may be associated with a single block of text. Forexample, a block of text may have associated permissions authorizing afirst entity to view and a second entity to edit. In other exemplaryembodiments, the separate permissions may be associated with differentblocks of text. For example, a first block of text may have anassociated permission authorizing an entity to view, and a second blockof text may have an associated permission authorizing the entity toedit. In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be configuredto perform a look up of viewing and editing permissions associated witha particular collaborative user who, for a particular block, has viewingpermissions and lacks editing permissions. Performing a lookup ofviewing and editing permissions may be carried out consistent with thedisclosure above to determine viewing and editing permissions for aparticular user. A collaborative user, as used herein, may refer to anyentity able to access the electronic word processing document. Forexample, a collaborative user may be an entity with permission to viewone or more blocks, edit one or more blocks, or a combination thereof.Consistent with embodiments discussed above, the collaborative user maybe associated with separate permissions for viewing and editing aparticular block such that the collaborative user may have permission toview information associated with the particular block, but lack apermission to edit the information associated with the same particularblock. Some aspects of the disclosure may involve the at least oneprocessor configured to render the particular block on a displayassociated with the collaborative user in a manner permitting viewing ofthe particular block while preventing editing of the particular block.Rendering a particular block on a display associated with acollaborative user, as used herein, may include providing the particularblock to the collaborative user by outputting one or more signalsconfigured to result in the presentation of the particular block on ascreen, other surface, through a projection, or in a virtual space. Thismay occur, for example, on one or more of a touchscreen, a monitor, ARor VR display, or any other means previously discussed. The particularblock may appear as a new window, as a pop-up, in an existing document,or in other manner for presenting the specific block on a displayassociated with the collaborative user. Rendering the particular blockin a manner permitting viewing while preventing editing may beaccomplished in any manner such that the collaborative user may examine,observe, read, look, or inspect information in a particular block, butmay not modify, add, or rearrange the contents of the particular block.In some exemplary embodiments, the particular block may have anassociated read-only attribute permitting the collaborative user toview, as well as tab onto, highlight, and copy the contents of theparticular block. In other exemplary embodiments, the particular blockmay have an associated disabled attribute, permitting the collaborativeuser to view but not edit, click, or otherwise use the contents of theparticular block. A particular block with a disabled attribute may, forexample, be rendered grey to indicate that a collaborative user haslimited access to that particular block. This indication may be appliedto the content contained in the particular block, to the background orborder of the block, or a combination thereof.

For example, referring again to the electronic word processing document600 illustrated in FIG. 6, the entity or document author 602 may defineblock-based permissions for blocks of text 610 and 612 that allow onlyteam members in a human resources department to view these blocks 610and 612. The document author 602 may further define these permissions toprevent even team members in the human resources department from editingthe blocks of text 610 and 612. If document author 602 shares thedocument 600 with a team member in the human resources department andthe team member accesses the document 600, the blocks of text 610 and612 may be disabled and rendered grey as shown, for example, in FIG. 11,such that the team member may neither edit nor select the text in theblocks 610 and 612.

FIG. 12 illustrates a block diagram for an exemplary method for settinggranular permissions for shared electronic documents, consistent withsome embodiments of the present disclosure. Method 1200 may begin withprocess block 1202 by enabling access to an electronic word processingdocument including blocks of text, wherein each block of text has anassociated address, as previously discussed. At block 1204, method 1200may include accessing at least one data structure containing block-basedpermissions for each block of text, and wherein the permissions includeat least one permission to view an associated block of text, aspreviously discussed. At block 1206, method 1200 may include receivingfrom an entity a request to access the electronic word processingdocument, consistent with the disclosure discussed above. At block 1208,method 1200 may include performing a lookup in the at least one datastructure to determine that the entity lacks permission to view at leastone specific block within the word processing document, as previouslydiscussed. At block 1210, method 1200 may include causing to be renderedon a display associated with the entity, the word processing documentwith the at least one specific block omitted from the display,consistent with the disclosure above.

Aspects of this disclosure may involve enabling a plurality of mobilecommunications devices to be used in parallel to comment on presentationslides within a deck. For ease of discussion, a system is describedbelow, with the understanding that aspects of the system apply equallyto non-transitory computer readable media, methods, and devices. Apresentation, as used herein, may refer to any circumstance or scenariowhere one or more presenters and audience members transmit and displayinformation on one or more display devices. For example, a presentationmay occur when a presenter causes a display of information relating toan electronic file on a screen in a room, or on multiple screensassociated with audience members over a network. In another example, apresentation may occur during a video conference or broadcastpresentation (e.g., over a network and displayed in a web browser) whereat least one presenter may be able to communicate with a group ofaudience members located in a common space or dispersed andcommunicatively coupled over one or more networks. A network may referto any type of wired or wireless electronic networking arrangement usedto exchange data, such as the Internet, a private data network, avirtual private network using a public network, a Wi-Fi network, a LAN,or WAN network, and/or other suitable connections, as described above.Furthermore, a presentation may include information associated withpresentation slides within a deck, which, as used herein, may refer to asingle page of information that may be part of a collection of pages(i.e., a deck) shared by at least one presenter. Presentation slides(also referred to herein as “slides”) within a deck may be stored as oneor more digital presentation files that provide for input, editing,formatting, display, and output of text, graphics, widgets, objects,tables, links, animations, dynamically updated elements, or any otherdata object that may be used in conjunction with the digital file. Suchpresentation files may be generated with any presentation program, suchas ClearSlide™, Presi™, LibreOffice Impress™, Powtoon™, GoAnimate™,Camtasia™, Slideshare™, or any other software capable of producingpresentation slides. Furthermore, presentation slides within a deck maybe configurable to be displayed or presented in a visual form, such ason a screen or other surface, through a projection, or in a virtualspace. This may occur, for example, via a display screen of a computingdevice, such as a PC, laptop, tablet, projector, cell phone, or personalwearable device. Presentation slides within a deck may also be displayedor presented virtually though AR or VR glasses, or through a holographicdisplay. Other mechanisms of presenting or displaying the presentationslides within a deck may also be used to enable the audience to visuallycomprehend the presented information.

A plurality of mobile communications devices, as used herein, may referto at least two portable devices capable of transmitting, capturing, orreceiving voice, video, data, and/or any other information orcombination thereof. For example, mobile communications devices mayinclude mobile phones, smartphones, handheld PCs, tablets, personaldigital assistants (PDAs), laptops, smartwatches, virtual reality orextended reality glasses, a combination thereof, or any other electronicdevice that can transmit and/or receive voice, video, data, and/or otherinformation. In some embodiments, a plurality of mobile communicationsdevices may include a digital camera or an optical scanner for capturinggraphical codes from presentation slides within a deck. In otherembodiments, mobile communications devices may include an interfaceenabling user input of comments on presentation slides within a deck.The plurality of mobile communication devices may also include displayscreens, touchscreens, keyboards, buttons, microphones, touchpads, acombination thereof, or any other hardware or software component thatmay receive user inputs. Enabling a plurality of mobile communicationsdevices to be used in parallel to comment on presentation slides withina deck, as used herein, may refer to at least two mobile communicationsdevices (e.g., associated with audience members) that may operatesimultaneously and add information regarding specific pages of anelectronic file, such as adding a comment on presentation slides withina deck. A comment, as used herein, may refer to a response, anobservation, a remark, an opinion, or any other form of feedback thatmay be transmitted and associated with a particular presentation slidewithin a deck. Comments may include text (e.g., alphanumerics), symbols,icons, emojis, images, or any other digital data object. For example, amobile communications device associated with an audience member maytransmit a comment (e.g., the data underlying the comment) that textwithin a presentation slide contains a typo. In another example, amobile communications device associated with another audience member maytransmit a comment with a thumbs-up icon for a particular presentationslide. As explained in further detail below, comments on a presentationslide within a deck may be associated with a link (e.g., a graphicalindicator).

By way of example, FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplarycomputing architecture, consistent with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. A computing device 100 may be associated with a presenterwho is presenting presentation slides within a deck to audience members.User devices 220-1 to 220-m may be mobile communications devicesassociated with the audience members. The audience members may use theirrespective user devices 220-1 to 220-m to transmit comments over anetwork 210 to the computing device 100 associated with the presenter.

Some disclosed embodiments may include receiving from a first of aplurality of mobile communications devices, a first instance of a firstgraphical code captured from a first slide during a presentation, or adecryption of the first instance of the first graphical code, and anassociated first comment on the first slide. A first graphical code, asused herein, may refer to a visible representation of a link that may beactivatable to locate, access, and/or retrieve information from aspecific location in memory (e.g., a repository). A first graphical codemay be a machine-scannable image or code. An electronic document mayinclude one or more graphical codes that may be associated withparticular locations within the electronic document. For example, anelectronic document may include a first graphical code on a first pageand a second graphical code on a second page. Each graphical code maycorrespond to each respective page such that activating a graphical codemay access a particular location in a repository storing data associatedwith the particular location within the electronic document. In someembodiments, the first graphical code may include at least one of a barcode or a QR code. A bar code, as used herein, may refer to amachine-readable code in the form of a pattern of parallel lines ofvarying widths. The bar code may also include numbers. A bar code may bea one-dimensional or linear bar code or a two-dimensional bar code, suchas a data matrix or Aztec code. A QR code, as used herein, may refer toa machine-readable code consisting of an array of black and whitesquares. A QR code may be static or dynamic (e.g., updating over time).Furthermore, a first graphical code may be associated with a firstslide. For example, a first graphical code may be embedded in a firstslide or may be displayed in any other location of a window of apresentation program when the first slide within a deck is displayed.

A first instance of a first graphical code captured from a first slide,as used herein, may refer to a single presentation of the firstgraphical code associated with the first slide, which may then bescanned by any computing device (e.g., a mobile communications device)with a digital camera, QR code reader, bar code reader, or any othersuitable optical scanning device. Scanning may involve capturing andeither storing or reading information contained in a first graphicalcode. In an exemplary embodiment, a first of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices may be a smartphone associated with an audiencemember who uses the smartphone's digital camera to scan the firstgraphical code, such as a QR code, that may be embedded in a firstslide. The smartphone device may then be operated to receive an inputindicative of a first comment (discussed in detail below) and receive apairing with the first graphical code captured from the first slidewhich may then transmit the data of the first comment over a network tothe at least one processor.

A decryption of the first instance of the first graphical code, as usedherein, may refer to a conversion of data associated with the firstgraphical code (e.g., a picture of the graphical code) captured by acomputing device (e.g., a first of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices) into its original format (e.g., a link or filepath). The original format of the first graphical code may be a plaintext memory location, such as a repository. For example, a first of theplurality of mobile communications devices may be a mobile phoneassociated with an audience member who uses the mobile phone's digitalcamera to scan the first graphical code, such as a bar code, that may beembedded in a first slide. The mobile phone may then decrypt the firstgraphical code to transform the first graphical code into a plain textmemory location (e.g., a repository or other storage location)associated with the first slide. The decryption of the first instance ofthe first graphical code and an associated first comment (discussed indetail below) may then be transmitted over a network to the at least oneprocessor.

An associated first comment, as used herein, may refer to a commentlinked, connected, joined, or coupled to either a first graphical code(corresponding to the first slide) captured from a first slide or adecryption of the first graphical code. As previously discussed, acomment may include text (e.g., alphanumerics), symbols, icons, emojis,images, or any other digital data object. In an exemplary embodiment, afirst of the plurality of mobile communications devices may be a tabletassociated with an audience member who uses the tablet's digital camerato scan the first graphical code, such as a QR code, that may beembedded in a first slide. The tablet may or may not then decrypt thefirst graphical code to transform the first graphical code into a plaintext memory location (e.g., a repository or other storage location)associated with the first slide. The tablet may receive a first commenton the first slide from the audience member interacting with any of thetablet's interface components, such as a touchscreen or keyboard, andassociate the first comment with the first graphical code or thedecryption of the first graphical code. Associating the first commentwith the first graphical code or the decryption of the first graphicalcode may be carried out by the at least one processor or a processor onthe client device (e.g., the tablet). In the former scenario, the tabletmay scan and subsequently decrypt the QR code, which may, for example,cause an interface (e.g., a new window) to be rendered on the tablet'sdisplay screen that may receive input (e.g., a first comment) andautomatically store the received input with the underlying dataassociated with the QR code. In the latter scenario, the tablet may scanbut not decrypt the QR code (e.g., capture an image of the QR code), andthe client device may then associate an input (e.g., a first comment)with an image of the QR code. The tablet may transmit the image of theQR code (e.g., the first graphical code) captured from the first slideor the decryption of the first graphical code and the associated firstcomment over a network to the at least one processor. The at least oneprocessor may then decrypt the image of the QR (e.g., to determine arepository location or to activate a link) to locate where to store theassociated comment in a repository.

As used herein, receiving from a first of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices, a first instance of a first graphical codecaptured from a first slide during a presentation and an associatedfirst comment on the first slide may refer to the at least one processorreceiving a transmission of data and/or information, including an imageof the first graphical code captured from a first slide (e.g., withoutdecryption) and an associated first comment, over a network (e.g., awired network or wireless network) from a first of the plurality ofcommunications devices. In some embodiments, receiving may involveaccepting instructions from other computing devices on a shared network(e.g., a presenter's device and an audience member's device on the samenetwork in the same room) or across a remote network (e.g., audiencemember devices sending instructions remotely from home to a presenter'sdevice during a conference call presentation). The at least oneprocessor may then decrypt the image of the first graphical codereceived from a first of the plurality of mobile communications devicesto determine a particular location in memory (e.g., a repository) tostore the associated first comment. In some embodiments, after receivingan associated first comment on the first slide and decrypting thereceived first graphical code, the at least one processor may store theassociated first comment in a first repository associated with the firstslide of the presentation. This may occur as an additional step carriedout by the at least one processor or alternatively, may be included inthe instructions executed by the at least one processor when it receivesa first instance of a first graphical code captured from a first slideduring a presentation and an associated first comment on the firstslide. Furthermore, in some embodiments, the at least one processor mayassign descriptive metadata to an associated first comment to indicatethat the associated first comment is comment-based data, which mayfacilitate the at least one processor in locating the associated secondcomment when performing a lookup and/or aggregating associated comments,as discussed in detail below.

As used herein, receiving from a first of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices, a decryption of the first instance of the firstgraphical code and an associated first comment on the first slide mayrefer to the at least one processor receiving a transmission of dataand/or information, including a decryption of the first instance of thefirst graphical code (e.g., in the form of data or a link to access adata source location) and an associated first comment, over a network(e.g., a wired network or wireless network) from a first of theplurality of communications devices. In some embodiments, afterreceiving a decryption of the first instance of the first graphical codeand an associated first comment on the first slide, the at least oneprocessor may store the associated first comment in a first repositoryassociated with the first slide of the presentation as a result ofinterpreting the decrypted first graphical code to locate and access thefirst repository. This may occur as an additional step carried out bythe at least one processor or alternatively, may be included in theinstructions executed by the at least one processor when it receives afirst instance of a first graphical code captured from a first slideduring a presentation and an associated first comment on the firstslide. In addition, in some embodiments, the at least one processor mayassign descriptive metadata to an associated first comment to indicatethat the associated first comment is comment-based data, which mayfacilitate the at least one processor in locating the associated firstcomment when performing a lookup and/or aggregating associated comments,as discussed in detail below.

By way of example, FIG. 13 illustrates an example of presentationslides, each containing a graphical code, consistent with someembodiments of the present disclosure. A first slide 1301 and a secondslide 1302 may together be part of a deck 1306, which may be presentedin a presentation interface 1304. The presentation interface 1304 mayinclude an area 1306 that displays each of the slides in a deck asthumbnails for the first slide 1301 and for the second slide 1302.Additionally, the presentation interface 1304 may include an indicationof a presenter 1308. The presenter 1308 may be presenting the firstslide 1301 and second slide 1302 via the presentation interface 1304 ona computing device (e.g., computing device 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2). Inthis example, the presenter 1308 is currently presenting the first slide1300 (on a main presenting window pane corresponding to thumbnail offirst slide 1301). The first slide 1300 may include a graphical code1310, which in this example is a QR code. During the presentation of thefirst slide 1300, a first of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices (e.g., user device 220-1 of FIG. 2), which may be a smartphoneassociated with an audience member who may scan the first graphical code1310 on the first slide 1300 with the smartphone's digital camera. Oncescanned, the smartphone may or may not decrypt the first graphical code1310. The smartphone may receive a first comment from the audiencemember who may generate the comment by interacting with any of thesmartphone's interface components, such as a touchscreen, keyboard, ormicrophone. The first comment may be associated with the first graphicalcode 1310 or a decryption of the first graphical code 1310. Thesmartphone may then transmit the image of the first graphical code 1310or a decryption of the first graphical code 1310 (or otherwise activatea link or any other address decrypted from the first graphical code) andthe associated first comment to the at least one processor over Wi-Fi,BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTH LE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC),radio waves, wired connections, or other suitable communication channelsthat provide a medium for exchanging data and/or information with the atleast one processor. Once the first graphical code 1310 is decrypted(either by the first of the plurality of communication devices or by theat least one processor) to indicate a specific memory location, theassociated first comment may be stored in the specific memory location—afirst repository (e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located inthe computing device 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the first slide1300.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include receiving from a secondof the plurality of mobile communications devices, a second instance ofthe first graphical code captured from the first slide during thepresentation or a decryption of the second instance of the firstgraphical code, and an associated second comment on the first slide.Receiving from a second of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices, a second instance of a first graphical code captured from afirst slide during a presentation and an associated second comment onthe first slide may involve capturing an image of the first graphicalcode as discussed in detail above, which may be carried out similarly tothe discussion above for the first of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices. Likewise, receiving from a second of theplurality of mobile communications devices, a decryption of the secondinstance of the first graphical code and an associated second comment onthe first slide may involve decrypting and interpreting data associatedwith the first graphical code, which may be carried out similarly to thediscussion above for the first of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices.

Referring again to FIG. 13, a first slide 1300 may include a graphicalcode 1310, which again in this example is a QR code. During apresentation of the first slide 1300, a second of the plurality ofmobile communications devices (e.g., user device 220-2 of FIG. 2), whichmay be a tablet associated with an audience member who may scan thefirst graphical code 1310 on the first slide 1300 with the tablet'sdigital camera. Once scanned, the tablet may or may not decrypt thefirst graphical code 1310. The smartphone may receive a second commentfrom the audience member who may generate the comment by interactingwith any of the tablet's interface components, such as a touchscreen orkeyboard. The second comment may be associated with the first graphicalcode 1310 or a decryption of the first graphical code. The tablet maythen transmit the first graphical code 1310 or a decryption of the firstgraphical code 1310 (or otherwise activate a link or any other addressdecrypted from the first graphical code) and the associated secondcomment to the at least one processor over Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTHLE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC), radio waves, wiredconnections, or other suitable communication channels that provide amedium for exchanging data and/or information with the at least oneprocessor. Once the first graphical code 1310 is decrypted (either bythe second of the plurality of communication devices or by the at leastone processor) to indicate a specific memory location, the associatedsecond comment may be stored in the specific memory location—a firstrepository (e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located in thecomputing device 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the first slide 1300.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include receiving from a third ofthe plurality of mobile communications devices, a first instance of asecond graphical code captured from a second slide during thepresentation or a decryption of the first instance of the secondgraphical code, and an associated third comment on the second slide. Theterm “third” (and later “fourth”) as used herein is simply meant todistinguish one or more mobile communications devices from otherdevices, such as the first and second devices and is not meant to implya particular fraction. Receiving from a third of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices, a first instance of a second graphical codecaptured from a second slide during a presentation and an associatedthird comment on the second slide may involve capturing an image of thesecond graphical code similar to capturing an image of the firstgraphical code as discussed in detail above, which may be carried outsimilarly to the discussion above for the first of the plurality ofmobile communications devices. Likewise, receiving from a third of theplurality of mobile communications devices, a decryption of the firstinstance of the second graphical code and an associated third comment onthe second slide may involve decrypting and interpreting data associatedwith the second graphical code, which may be carried out similarly tothe discussion above for the first of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices.

Referring again to FIG. 13, a second slide 1302 may include a graphicalcode 1312, which in this example is a linear bar code. During apresentation of the second slide 1402 (shown in FIG. 13 as a thumbnailin area 1306), a third of the plurality of mobile communications devices(e.g., user device 220-3 of FIG. 2 (shown as 220-n as any number ofadditional user devices)), which may be a laptop that may be associatedwith an audience member and that may be coupled to a code scanner via aUSB or BLUETOOTH™ connection. The audience member may scan the secondgraphical code 1312 on the second slide 1302 (when second slide 1302 ispresented in the main window pane or as a thumbnail) with the codescanner. Once scanned and transmitted to the laptop, the laptop may ormay not decrypt the second graphical code 1312. The laptop may receive athird comment from the audience member who may generate the comment byinteracting with any of the laptop's interface components, such as akeyboard or mouse. The third comment may be associated with the secondgraphical code 1312 or a decryption of the second graphical code 1312.The laptop may then transmit the second graphical code 1312 or adecryption of the second graphical code 1312 (or otherwise activate alink or any other address decrypted from the second graphical code) andthe associated third comment to the at least one processor over Wi-Fi,BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTH LE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC),radio waves, wired connections, or other suitable communication channelsthat provide a medium for exchanging data and/or information with the atleast one processor. Once the second graphical code 1312 is decrypted(either by the third of the plurality of communication devices or by theat least one processor) to indicate a specific memory location, theassociated third comment may be stored in the specific memory location—asecond repository (e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located inthe computing device 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the second slide1302.

Some disclosed embodiments may further include receiving from a fourthof the plurality of mobile communications devices, a second instance ofthe second graphical code captured from the second slide during thepresentation or a decryption of the second instance of the secondgraphical code, and an associated fourth comment on the second slide.Receiving from a fourth of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices, a second instance of a second graphical code captured from asecond slide during a presentation and an associated fourth comment onthe second slide may involve capturing an image of the second graphicalcode similar to capturing an image of the first graphical code asdiscussed in detail above, which may be carried out similarly to thediscussion above for the first of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices. Likewise, receiving from a fourth of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices, a decryption of the second instance of thesecond graphical code and an associated fourth comment on the secondslide may involve decrypting and interpreting data associated with thesecond graphical code, which may be carried out similarly to thediscussion above for the first of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices.

Receiving instances of graphical codes or decryptions of graphical codesfrom the plurality of mobile communications devices may occursimultaneously and at any time. For example, any number of devices maycapture the first graphical code and associate a comment, as discussedearlier, when the first slide is actively being presented or at a latertime after the first slide is presented (e.g., when the presenter moveson to presenting the second slide or even after the presentation isconcluded). Even while some devices are receiving inputs for commentsfor the first slide, other devices during the same presentation mayreceive inputs at the same time for comments for the second slide. Byassociating comments with either an instance of a graphical code or adecryption of a graphical code, the processor may quickly receive andstore all of the comments to the respective locations in the repositoryfor each particular slide in a deck of slides in a presentation.

Referring again to FIG. 13, a second slide 1302 may include a graphicalcode 1312, which again in this example is a linear bar code. During apresentation of the second slide 1402 (shown in FIG. 13 as a thumbnailin area 1306), a fourth of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices (e.g., user device 220-4 of FIG. 2 (shown as 220-n as any numberof additional user devices)), which may be a smartwatch that may beassociated with an audience member who may scan the second graphicalcode 1312 on the second slide 1302 with the smartwatch's digital camera.Once scanned, the smartwatch may or may not decrypt the second graphicalcode 1312. The smartwatch may receive a fourth comment from the audiencemember who may generate the comment by interacting with any of thesmartwatch's interface components, such as buttons or a touchscreen. Thefourth comment may be associated with the second graphical code 1312 ora decryption of the second graphical code 1312. The smartwatch may thentransmit the second graphical code 1312 or a decryption of the secondgraphical code 1312 (or otherwise activate a link or any other addressdecrypted from the second graphical code) and the associated fourthcomment to the at least one processor over Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTHLE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC), radio waves, wiredconnections, or other suitable communication channels that provide amedium for exchanging data and/or information with the at least oneprocessor. Once the second graphical code 1312 is decrypted (either bythe fourth of the plurality of communication devices or by the at leastone processor) to indicate a specific memory location, the associatedfourth comment may be stored in the specific memory location—a secondrepository (e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located in thecomputing device 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the second slide 1302.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include performing a lookupassociated with the first graphical code, to identify a first repositoryassociated with the first slide of the presentation. Performing a lookupassociated with the first graphical code, as used herein, may refer toan action, process, or instance of retrieving, accessing, and/orsearching for data and/or information in a memory location identified bythe decrypted first graphical code. The lookup may locate (i.e.,identify) a first repository storing data associated with the firstslide of the presentation. As used herein, a first repository associatedwith the first slide of the presentation may refer to a storage mediumor specific location in a storage medium where data and/or informationassociated with the first slide of the presentation is stored. Dataand/or information associated with the first slide of the presentationmay include objects, text, comments, charts, graphs, graphical userinterfaces, videos, animations, iframes, and/or any otherrepresentations of data or information associated with the first slide.A first repository may be a relational database, a data warehouse, adata mart, an operational data store, shared data store, cloud storage,or any other central location in which data and/or informationassociated with the first slide is stored and managed. Furthermore, afirst repository may be a remote repository accessible through a networkor may be a local repository hosted by a computing device associatedwith one or more presenters. In some exemplary embodiments, the at leastone processor may automatically perform a lookup in response to the atleast one processor receiving a first and/or second instance of thefirst graphical code (or a decryption of the first and/or secondinstance of the first graphical code) and an associated first and/orsecond comment on the first slide from the first or second of theplurality of mobile communications devices, respectively, as discussedabove. In other exemplary embodiments, one or more presenters maymanually instruct the at least one processor to perform the lookup. Forexample, a presenter may select with an input device (such as a mouse)an interactive component of the presentation interface to initiate theperforming a lookup step. The at least one processor may perform anadditional lookup, for example, in a data structure containingpermissions, to determine whether the presenter has permission toinitiate the performing a lookup step.

By way of example, FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplarycomputing architecture, consistent with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The at least one processor may interpret a decrypted firstgraphical code (such as the first graphical code 1310 of FIG. 13) toidentify a first repository (remote repository 230-1 or in a repositorylocated in the computing device 100) associated with a first slide ofthe presentation to retrieve, access, and/or search for data and/orinformation contained in the first repository.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include aggregating the firstcomment and the second comment in the first repository. Aggregating thefirst comment and the second comment in the first repository may involvelocating, gathering, compiling, collecting, combining, associating,and/or organizing the first comment and second comment and storing thedata associated with both in memory in the same location or inassociated locations (e.g., in the first repository). Associatedlocations may be disbursed within a server, a collection of collocatedservers, or distributed servers. Thus, a repository, as used herein,does not necessarily mean that all related data is stored in the samelocation.

For example, the at least one processor may perform a lookup within thefirst repository to search and locate the first and second comments andthen associate the first comment with the second comment, as discussedin below. The at least one processor may locate the first comment andsecond comment, for example, based on descriptive metadata assigned toeach comment indicating that the comments are comment-based data andboth associated with the first slide. In some embodiments, afterlocating the first comment and second comment in the first repository,the at least one processor may associate or link the first and secondcomments by, for example, assigning a common code, address, or otherdesignation to the first comment and the second comment to indicate thatboth comments are associated with data from the first slide. In otherembodiments, the at least one processor may sort or organize the firstcomment and second comment within the first repository in a manner thatwill enable efficient retrieval for displaying or further processing ofthe first and second comments when the processor receives instructionsto transmit all data regarding the first slide (e.g., instructions froma presenter requesting to access and view all of the comments associatedwith the first slide).

Some disclosed embodiments may further include performing a lookupassociated with a second graphical code, to identify a second repositoryassociated with a second slide of a presentation. Performing a lookupassociated with the second graphical code, to identify a secondrepository associated with the second slide of the presentation may becarried out similarly to the discussion above for performing a lookupassociated with the first graphical code, but to identify a secondrepository associated with the second slide of the presentation. In someembodiments, the first repository and the second repository may bedistinct repositories, and in other embodiments, the first repositoryand second repository may be separate dedicated memory spaces in thesame repository (e.g., the same repository location or a common file, asdiscussed in detail below). Furthermore, in some embodiments, performingthe lookup associated with the second graphical code may be carried outfollowing performing the lookup associated with the first graphical codein response to a single instruction (e.g., the presenter sendsinstructions to view all comments associated with the first and secondslides to cause the processor to perform a lookup of both the first andsecond graphical code). In other embodiments, performing the lookupassociated with the second graphical code may be carried out only afterthe processor receives a second set of instructions to perform thelookup associated with the second graphical code, independently from theinstructions to perform the lookup associated with the first graphicalcode, as described above.

By way of example, FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplarycomputing architecture, consistent with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. The at least one processor may read a decrypted secondgraphical code (such as the second graphical code 1312 of FIG. 13) toidentify a second repository (remote repository 230-1 or in a repositorylocated in the computing device 100) associated with a second slide ofthe presentation to retrieve, access, and/or search for data and/orinformation contained in the second repository.

Some disclosed embodiments may further include aggregating the thirdcomment and the fourth comment in the second repository. Aggregating thethird comment and the fourth comment in the second repository may becarried out similarly to the discussion above for aggregating the firstcomment and the second comment in the first repository.

In some embodiments, a first repository and a second repository mayconstitute separate portions of a common file. A common file, as usedherein, may refer to a single collection of digital data associated withpresentation slides within a deck, stored as a unit in a local or remoterepository. A common file may also be stored in a disbursed manner,across servers in one or more locations. Separate portions of a commonfile may refer to subsections of a local or remote repository associatedwith the common file. For example, a single local or remote repositoryassociated with a common file may be divided into two or moresubsections. One subsection within the local or remote repository maystore data and/or information associated with the first slide of thepresentation, and another subsection within the local or remoterepository may data and/or information associated with the second slideof the presentation.

By way of example, FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplarycomputing architecture, consistent with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. A common file may, for example, be stored in a remoterepository 230-1 or in a repository located in the computing device 100.If the common file is stored in a remote repository 230-1 for example,the repository 230-1 may include separate areas or subsections, suchthat data and/or information associated with a first slide of thepresentation is stored separately from data and/or informationassociated with a second slide of the presentation.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include displaying to a presenterof a deck, a first comment and a second comment in association with afirst slide. A presenter of the deck, as used herein, may refer to anentity who may be an author or owner of a presentation file or any otherelectronic document that may be presented. An entity may refer to anindividual, a device, a team, an organization, a group, a department, adivision, a subsidiary, a company, a contractor, an agent orrepresentative, or any other thing with independent and distinctexistence. A presenter of the deck may be an entity that was givenaccess to the deck through permission settings or an activatable link.Displaying to a presenter of the deck, the first comment and the secondcomment, as used herein, may include retrieving the first and secondcomments from at least one repository, and causing the information inthe first and second comments to be rendered on a display associatedwith a presenter, such as on a screen, other surface, through aprojection, or in a virtual space associated with the presenter of adeck. This may occur via a display screen associated with thepresenter's computing device (e.g., PC, laptop, tablet, projector, cellphone, or personal wearable device), which may or may not be the samecomputing device used to present the deck. The first comment and thesecond comment may also be presented virtually through AR or VR glasses,or through a holographic display. Other mechanisms of presenting mayalso be used to enable the presenter of the deck to visually comprehendthe first comment and the second comment. Furthermore, displaying to apresenter of the deck, the first comment and the second comment mayoccur in real-time during the presentation, at the conclusion of thepresentation, or in response to the presenter requesting a display ofthe first comment and the second comment. The first comment and thesecond comment may be arranged on a display associated with a presenteraccording to timestamps, which may be stored as metadata, associatedwith each comment. The timestamps may or may not be displayed inconjunction with their respective comment. Additionally, the first andsecond comment may only be viewable to a presenter of the deck or mayalso be viewable to one or more of the audience members.

Displaying to a presenter of the deck, the first comment and the secondcomment in association with the first slide may refer to displaying thefirst comment and the second comment in connection with or together withthe first slide via any methods previously discussed. In someembodiments, the first comment and the second comment may be displayedon the first slide in a rendered display, or next to each other in aco-presentation. In other embodiments, the first comment and the secondcomment may be displayed in any other area of a presentation programinterface (e.g., a comment box displayed below the first slide, a newwindow, or a pop-up) when the first slide within a deck is displayed. Infurther embodiments, the first comment and the second comment may bedisplayed on a device distinct from the device used to present the firstslide via a presentation program. For example, the first and secondcomment may be displayed on a first computing device (e.g., a tablet) orVR/AR glasses associated with the presenter when the presenter accessesor selects the first slide via a presentation program on a secondcomputing device (e.g., a PC). Displaying to a presenter of the deck,the first comment and the second comment in association with the firstslide may further involve a presenter accessing the deck by retrievingthe deck from a storage medium, such as a local storage medium or aremote storage medium. A local storage medium may be maintained, forexample, on a local computing device, on a local network, or on aresource such as a server within or connected to a local network. Aremote storage medium may be maintained in the cloud, or at any otherlocation other than a local network. In some embodiments, accessing thedeck may retrieving the deck from a web browser cache. Additionally, oralternatively, accessing the deck may include accessing a live datastream of the deck from a remote source. In some embodiments, accessingthe deck may include logging into an account having a permission toaccess the deck. For example, accessing the deck may be achieved byinteracting with an indication associated with the deck, such as an iconor file name, which may cause the system to retrieve (e.g., from astorage medium) a particular deck associated with the indication.

Referring again to FIG. 13, a presenter 1308 may be presenting a deckvia a presentation interface 1304 on a computing device (e.g., computingdevice 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2). The deck may include a first slide 1300,which the presenter 1308 may be presenting. The first slide 1300 mayinclude a graphical code 1310, which in this example is a QR code.

A first of the plurality of mobile communications devices (e.g., userdevice 220-1 of FIG. 2) may be a smartphone associated with an audiencemember who may scan the first graphical code 1310 on the first slide1300 with the smartphone's digital camera. Once scanned, the smartphonemay or may not decrypt the first graphical code 1310. The smartphone mayreceive a first comment 1314 a from the audience member. The firstcomment 1314 a may be text reading “There is a typo. ‘Txt’ should be‘Text,’” referring to the text string 1316 on the first slide 1300. Thesmartphone may then transmit the first graphical code 1310 (or adecryption of the first graphical code 1310) and the associated firstcomment 1314 a to the at least one processor (e.g., processing circuitry110 of computing device 110 of FIG. 1) over Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTHLE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC), radio waves, wiredconnections, or other suitable communication channels that provide amedium for exchanging data and/or information with the at least oneprocessor. Once the first graphical code 1310 is decrypted (either bythe first of the plurality of communication devices or by the at leastone processor) to indicate a specific memory location, the associatedfirst comment 1314 a may be stored in the specific memory location—afirst repository (e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located inthe computing device 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the first slide1300.

A second of the plurality of mobile communications devices (e.g., userdevice 220-2 of FIG. 2), which may be a tablet associated with anaudience member who may scan the first graphical code 1310 on the firstslide 1300 with the tablet's digital camera. Once scanned, the tabletmay or may not decrypt the first graphical code 1310. The tablet mayreceive a second comment 1318 a from the audience member. The secondcomment 1318 a may be a thumbs up icon (e.g., an emoji). The tablet maythen transmit the first graphical code 1310 (or a decryption of thefirst graphical code 1310) and the associated second comment 1318 a tothe at least one processor (e.g., processing circuitry 110 of computingdevice 110 of FIG. 1) over Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTH LE™ (BLE),Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC), radio waves, wired connections,or other suitable communication channels that provide a medium forexchanging data and/or information with the at least one processor. Oncethe first graphical code 1310 is decrypted (either by the second of theplurality of communication devices or by the at least one processor) toindicate a specific memory location, the associated second comment 1318a may be stored in the specific memory location—a first repository(e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located in the computingdevice 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the first slide 1300.

The presenter 1308 may select an icon 1322 in the presentation interface1304 to instruct the at least one processor (e.g., processing circuitry110 of computing device 110 of FIG. 1) to collect all of the commentsreceived regarding the first slide 1300, which may cause the at leastone processor to perform a lookup and aggregate the first comment 1314 aand second comment 1318 a. In response to performing a lookup andaggregating the first comment 1314 a and the second comment 1318 a, theat least one processor may then display to the presenter of the deck thefirst comment 1314 a and the second comment 1318 a in comment box 1323,which may or may not also be visible to one or more audience members.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include displaying to thepresenter of the deck, the third comment and the fourth comment inassociation with the second slide. Displaying to the presenter of thedeck, the third and the fourth comment in association with the secondslide may be carried out similarly to the discussion above fordisplaying to the presenter of the deck, the first and the secondcomment in association with the first slide.

Referring again to FIG. 13, a presenter 1308 may be presenting a deckvia a presentation interface 1304 on a computing device (e.g., computingdevice 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2). The deck may include a second slide 1302(shown in FIG. 13 as a thumbnail in area 1306). The second slide 1302may include a graphical code 1312, which in this example is a linear barcode.

A third of the plurality of mobile communications devices (e.g., userdevice 220-3 of FIG. 2 (shown as 220-n as any number of additional userdevices)), which may be a mobile phone associated with an audiencemember who may scan the second graphical code 1312 on the second slide1302 (when presented by the presenter 1308) with the mobile phone'sdigital camera. Once scanned, the mobile phone may or may not decryptthe second graphical code 1312. The mobile phone may receive a thirdcomment 1319 (shown here in a chat box 1320, which is explained indetail below and may or may not be included in the presentationinterface 1304) from the audience member. The third comment 1319 may betext reading “The table appears to be missing data.” The mobile phonemay then transmit an image of the second graphical code 1312 (or adecryption of the second graphical code 1312) and the associated thirdcomment 1319 to the at least one processor (e.g., processing circuitry110 of computing device 110 of FIG. 1) over Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTHLE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC), radio waves, wiredconnections, or other suitable communication channels that provide amedium for exchanging data and/or information with the at least oneprocessor. Once the second graphical code 1312 is decrypted (either bythe third of the plurality of communication devices or by the at leastone processor) to indicate a specific memory location, the associatedthird comment 1319 may be stored in the specific memory location—asecond repository (e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located inthe computing device 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the second slide1302.

A fourth of the plurality of mobile communications devices (e.g., userdevice 220-4 of FIG. 2 (shown as 220-n as any number of additional userdevices)) may be a smartwatch (or any other device) associated with anaudience member who may scan the second graphical code 1312 on thesecond slide 1302 (when presented by the presenter 1308) with thesmartwatch's digital camera. Once scanned, the smartwatch may or may notdecrypt the second graphical code 1312. The smartwatch may receive afourth comment 1321 (shown here in a chat box 1320, which is explainedin detail below and may or may not be included in the presentationinterface 1304) from the audience member. The fourth comment 1321 may betext reading “Great job!” The smartwatch may then transmit an image ofthe second graphical code 1312 (or a decryption of the second graphicalcode 1312) and the associated fourth comment 1321 to the at least oneprocessor (e.g., processing circuitry 110 of computing device 110 ofFIG. 1) over Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTH LE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near fieldcommunications (NFC), radio waves, wired connections, or other suitablecommunication channels that provide a medium for exchanging data and/orinformation with the at least one processor. Once the second graphicalcode 1312 is decrypted (either by the second of the plurality ofcommunication devices or by the at least one processor) to indicate aspecific memory location, the associated fourth comment 1321 may bestored in the specific memory location—a second repository (e.g.,repository 230-1 or in a repository located in the computing device 100of FIG. 2) associated with the second slide 1302.

When the presenter 1308 presents the second slide 1302, the presenter1308 may select an icon similar to activatable icon 1322 in thepresentation interface 1304 to instruct the at least one processor(e.g., processing circuitry 110 of computing device 110 of FIG. 1) toperform a lookup and aggregate the third comment 1319 and fourth comment1321. In response to performing a lookup and aggregating the thirdcomment and the fourth comment, the at least one processor may thendisplay to the presenter of the deck the third comment 1319 and thefourth comment 1321 in a comment box similar to comment box 1323, whichmay or may not also be visible to one or more audience members.

In some embodiments, the at least one processor may be configured todisplay in real time to a presenter during a presentation at least oneof a first comment, a second comment, a third comment, and a fourthcomment. Displaying comments to a presenter in real time during apresentation may include the at least one processor rendering (via anymethods previously discussed for displaying to a presenter of the deckthe first comment and second comment) at least one of the first comment,the second comment, the third comment, or the fourth comment at the sametime while the presenter is transmitting information from an electronicfile (e.g., a presentation slide deck to an audience member in the sameroom, or via an associated computing device of at least one audiencemember that is on a remote network). This may occur within milliseconds,seconds, or another predetermined interval of the at least one processorreceiving from one of the plurality of mobile communications devices agraphical code and an associated comment, or a decryption of a graphicalcode and an associated comment. For example, the at least one processormay receive from a second of the plurality of mobile communicationsdevices, a second instance of a first graphical code captured from afirst slide during a presentation and an associated second comment. Theat least one processor may then perform additional processingoperations, such as any of the processing operations previouslydiscussed and discussed further below. The at least one processor, inthis example, may then display to the presenter the associated secondcomment while the presenter is presenting the first slide (or asubsequent slide if the at least one processor receives from the secondof the plurality of the mobile communications devices, the firstgraphical code and the associated second comment after the presenter hasadvanced the deck to a subsequent slide). The associated second commentmay be displayed in association with the first slide, as previouslydiscussed, or may be displayed in a chat, as discussed in detail below.

Referring again to FIG. 13, a presenter 1308 may be presenting a deckvia a presentation interface 1304 on a computing device (e.g., computingdevice 100 of FIGS. 1 and 2). The deck may include a first slide 1300,which the presenter 1308 is currently presenting. The first slide 1300may include a graphical code 1310, which in this example is a QR code. Afirst of the plurality of mobile communications devices (e.g., userdevice 220-1 of FIG. 2), which may be a smartphone associated with anaudience member who may scan the first graphical code 1310 on the firstslide 1300 with the smartphone's digital camera. Once scanned, thesmartphone may or may not decrypt the first graphical code 1310. Thesmartphone may receive a first comment 1314 a from the audience member.The first comment 1314 a may be text reading “There is a typo. Txt′should be ‘Text,’” referring to the text string 1316 on the first slide1300. The smartphone may then transmit the first graphical code 1310 (ora decryption of the first graphical code 1310) and the associated firstcomment 1314 a to the at least one processor (e.g., processing circuitry110 of computing device 110 of FIG. 1) over Wi-Fi, BLUETOOTH™, BLUETOOTHLE™ (BLE), Wi-Fi, near field communications (NFC), radio waves, wiredconnections, or other suitable communication channels that provide amedium for exchanging data and/or information with the at least oneprocessor. Once the first graphical code 1310 is decrypted (either bythe first of the plurality of communication devices or by the at leastone processor) to indicate a specific memory location, the associatedfirst comment 1314 a may be stored in the specific memory location—afirst repository (e.g., repository 230-1 or in a repository located inthe computing device 100 of FIG. 2) associated with the first slide1300. The at least one processor may then retrieve from memory andoutput signals to cause a display to render information to the presenter1308, such as information from the associated first comment 1314 a,either in a comment box 1323 or a chat box 1320 or any other visualrendering of this information. In this example, other comments (e.g., asecond comment 1318 a) would not be displayed in the comment box 1323 orin the chat box 1320, as the system has not yet received other comments.The at least one processor may perform the operations described in thisexample in milliseconds, seconds, or based on a predetermined interval,such that the first comment 1314 a is displayed to the presenter 1308 inreal-time or near real-time.

In some other embodiments, at least one processor may be furtherconfigured to aggregate a first comment, a second comment, a thirdcomment, and a fourth comment into a common electronic word processingdocument. A common electronic word processing document may refer to anydigital file that may provide for input, editing, formatting, display,and output of text (e.g., alphanumerics) and other content, such asgraphics, widgets, objects, tables, links, animations, dynamicallyupdated elements, or any other data object that may be used inconjunction with the digital file. A common electronic word processingdocument may not be limited to only digital files for word processingbut may include any other processing document such as presentationslides, tables, databases, graphics, sound files, video files or anyother digital document or file. Furthermore, an electronic wordprocessing document may be a collaborative document or anon-collaborative document. A collaborative electronic word processingdocument may, for example, be generated in or uploaded to a commononline platform (e.g., a web site) to enable multiple members of a teamto simultaneously view and edit the document. A non-collaborativeelectronic word processing document, as used herein, may refer to anydocument that only a single entity may modify, prepare, and edit at atime. The single entity may share the non-collaborative document withother entities (e.g., an end-user or audience) to enable the otherentities to view or edit the same document. Aggregating the firstcomment, the second comment, the third comment and the fourth commentinto a common electronic word processing document, as used herein, mayrefer to locating and retrieving the underlying data of the firstcomment, the second comment, the third comment, and the fourth comment,and storing these comments in a common electronic word processingdocument. The at least one processor may execute instructions, such ascode in source code format, binary code format, executable code format,or any other suitable format of code, to locate, retrieve, and store thefirst comment the second comment, the third comment, and the fourthcomment in a common electronic word processing document. This mayinvolve the at least one processor accessing the first repositoryassociated with the first slide of the presentation to locate andretrieve the first comment and the second comment and accessing thesecond repository associated with the first slide of the presentation tolocate and retrieve the third comment and the fourth comment. In someembodiments, the at least one processor may locate the first comment,the second comment, the third comment, and the fourth comment based ondescriptive metadata assigned to each comment indicating that thecomments are comment-based data. The at least one processor may thenstore the retrieved first comment, second comment, third comment, andfourth comment in the common electronic word processing document. Insome embodiments, common electronic word processing document may be anew document generated by the at least one processor. In otherembodiments, the common electronic word processing document may be anexisting document. For example, the at least one processor may migratethe first comment, the second comment, the third comment, and the fourthdocument from one file location (e.g., the presentation file) to anotherfile location (e.g., an existing common electronic word processingdocument file). Furthermore, the common electronic word processingdocument may display the identical first, second, third, and fourthcomments, may display a summary or altered version of these comments, ormay display the identical comment for some comments and a summary oraltered version for others. Additionally, the common electronic wordprocessing document may or may not include additional information, suchas, for example, headings identifying the slide from which the first,second, third, or fourth comment is associated with and/or timestampsreferencing the time at which the at least one processor received therespective comment. Furthermore, the first comment, the second comment,the third comment, and the fourth comment may be organized within thecommon electronic word processing document in any manner. For example,the first and second comment may be displayed in one column of a table,while the third and fourth comment may be displayed in a second columnof the same table. In another example, the first and second comment maybe included in a first page of the common electronic word processingdocument, while the third and fourth comment may be displayed in asecond page of the common electronic word processing document. In yetanother example, the comments may be arranged in chronological orderaccording to timestamps, which may be stored as metadata associated witheach comment.

By way of example, FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an electronic wordprocessing document 1400 presenting comments 1314 a, 1318 a, 1319, and1321 on presentation slides 1300 and 1302 (from FIG. 13), consistentwith some embodiments of the present disclosure. The electronic wordprocessing document 1400 may display comments first comment 1314 a, thesecond comment 1318 a, the third comment 1319, and the fourth comment1321, corresponding to comments on slides 1300 and 1302 that the atleast one processor received from a respective one of the plurality ofmobile communications devices. The electronic word processing documentmay include heading 1402, “Comments from Slide 1,” and heading 1404,“Comments from Slide 2.” The first comment 1314 a and the second comment1318 a from the first slide 1300 may be displayed under heading 1402,and the third comment 1319 and the fourth comment 1321 may be displayedunder heading 1404.

In other embodiments, at least one processor may be further configuredto present a first comment, a second comment, a third comment, and afourth comment in a chat during a presentation. A chat during apresentation, as used herein, may refer to a dedicated portal forexchanges of messages between one or more entities during thepresentation in real-time or real-near time, which may be rendered in atleast a portion of a screen to present the messages exchanged during atime frame. The messages may include the first comment, the secondcomment, the third comment, and the fourth comment received by the atleast one processor from the respective mobile communications devices.The messages may further include other comments, such as comments fromone or more presenters of the presentation slides within a deck and/orfurther comments received by the at least one processor from one or moreaudience members over a network (e.g., a wired network or wirelessnetwork). Presenting the first comment, the second comment, the thirdcomment and the fourth comment in a chat during the presentation mayinvolve the at least one processor displaying (via any method previouslydiscussed for displaying to a presenter of the deck the first commentand second comment) a chat interface containing the informationassociated with each comment during the presentation. The chat interfacemay be visible to one or more presenters, one or more audience members,a combination thereof, or all presenters and all audience members. Insome embodiments, the chat interface may be a chat box embedded in apresentation interface presenting the slides within a deck. In otherembodiments, the chat interface may be a pop-up, a new window, or anyother presentation of messages that include at least the first comment,the second comment, the third comment, and the fourth comment.Furthermore, presenting the first comment, the second comment, the thirdcomment, and the fourth comment in a chat during the presentation mayoccur in real or near-real time. For example, the at least one processormay display in a chat interface a first comment within milliseconds,seconds, or another predetermined interval of receiving the first of theplurality of mobile communications devices. In some embodiments, thefirst comment, the second comment, third comment, and fourth comment(and any other messages) may be arranged in the chat interface inchronological order according to a timestamp associated with therespective comment or message. The timestamp may be metadatarepresenting the time at which the at least one processor received therespective comment or message. The timestamps may or may not also bedisplayed with their respective comment or message in the chatinterface. In further embodiments, the chat interface may includeheadings identifying the slide from which the first, second, third, orfourth comments are associated with. Furthermore, in some embodiments,the at least one processor may be configured to display each of thefirst comment, second comment, third comment, and fourth comment (andany other messages) in the chat interface for a predetermined time. Forexample, at least one processor may display a comment or message for tenseconds, at which point the comment or message may disappear from thechat interface. In other embodiments, the at least one processor maycontinually display a comment or message in a chat interface untilreceiving an instruction, via an interaction from an entity, to closethe presentation file, or to clear or delete one or more comments ormessages from the chat interface. In yet further embodiments, the atleast one processor may store the chat in a repository for laterretrieval by an entity, such as a presenter.

Referring again to FIG. 13, the presentation interface 1304 may includea chat box 1320 rendered on a display. In this example, the presenter1308 may be presenting the first slide 1300. As previously discussed,the at least one processor (e.g., processing circuitry 110 of computingdevice 110 of FIG. 1) may receive from a first of a plurality of mobilecommunications devices a first instance of a first graphical code 1310(or a decryption of the first graphical code 1310) and an associatedfirst comment 1314 b. Once the at least one processor receives the firstcomment 1314 b, it may display this comment 1314 b in the comment box1320 under the heading 1326, “Slide 1.” Similarly, while the presenter1308 is presenting the first slide 1300, the at least one processor maysubsequently receive and display a second comment 1318 b in the commentbox 1320 under the heading 1326, “Slide 1.” When the presenter 1308advances slides within the deck to present the second slide 1302, thechat box 1320 may still be displayed in the presentation interface 1304.The at least one processor may then receive from a third of a pluralityof mobile communications devices a first instance of a second graphicalcode 1312 (or a decryption of the second graphical code 1312) and anassociated third comment 1319. Once the at least one processor receivesthe third comment 1319, it may display this comment 1319 in the commentbox 1320 under the heading 1328, “Slide 2.” Similarly, while thepresenter 1308 is presenting the second slide 1302, the at least oneprocessor may subsequently receive and display a fourth comment 1321 inthe comment box 1320 under the heading 1328, “Slide 2.”

In some further embodiments, at least one processor may be configured tocause a first portion of a chat containing a first comment and a secondcomment to be co-presented in association with a first slide and tocause a second portion of the chat containing a third comment and afourth comment to be co-presented in association with a second slide.Causing a first portion of the chat containing the first comment and thesecond comment to be co-presented in association with the first slidemay involve displaying (via any method previously discussed fordisplaying to a presenter of the deck the first comment and secondcomment) the first comment and second comment in a chat interface whenthe first slide within the deck is displayed at the same time. This mayoccur during the presentation (i.e., while the presenter is presentinginformation from the first slide) or may occur after the presentationwhen the presenter or other entity access a deck containing the firstslide and selects the first slide for display. When another slide (e.g.,the second slide) within a deck is displayed, the co-presentation of thefirst comment and the second comment may or may not disappear from thechat interface, such as to only display comments associated with theother slide (e.g., the second slide). Causing a second portion of thechat containing the third comment and the fourth comment to beco-presented in association with the second slide may be carried outsimilarly to the discussion above for the first portion of the chat.

Referring again to FIG. 13, a presenter 1308 may present a first slide1300 via a presentation interface 1304. The presentation interface 1304may include a chat box 1320. The at least one processor (e.g.,processing circuitry 110 of computing device 110 of FIG. 1) may displaya first portion of the chat interface 1320 containing a co-presentationof a first comment 1314 b and a second comment 1318 b, received from afirst and second of the mobile communications devices respectively,under a heading 1326, “Slide 1.” In this example, a third comment 1319and a fourth comment 1321 under a heading 1328, “Slide 2,” may not bevisible as the at least one processor may have not yet received thesecomments. When the presenter 1308 advances slides within the deck topresent a second slide 1302, the at least one processor may display asecond portion of the chat interface 1320 containing a co-presentationof a third comment 1319 and a fourth comment 1321, received from a thirdand fourth of the mobile communications devices respectively, under aheading 1328, “Slide 2.” While the second slide 1302 is displayed, theco-presentation of the first comment 1314 b and the second comment 1318b under the heading 1326, “Slide 1,” may or may not be displayed withthe co-presentation of the third comment 1319 and the fourth comment1321, under the heading 1328, “Slide 2,” in the chat box 1320.

FIG. 15 illustrates a block diagram for an exemplary method for enablinga plurality of mobile communications devices to be used in parallel tocomment on presentation slides within a deck. Method 1500 may begin withprocess block 1502 by receiving from a first of the plurality of mobilecommunications devices, a first instance of a first graphical codecaptured from a first slide during a presentation, or a decryption ofthe first instance of the first graphical code, and an associated firstcomment on the first slide, as previously discussed. At block 1504,method 1500 may include receiving from a second of the plurality ofmobile communications devices, a second instance of a first graphicalcode captured from a first slide during a presentation, or a decryptionof the second instance of the first graphical code, and an associatedsecond comment on the first slide, consistent with the disclosure above.At block 1506, method 1500 may include receiving from a third of theplurality of mobile communications devices, a first instance of a secondgraphical code captured from a second slide during a presentation or adecryption of the first instance of the second graphical code, and anassociated third comment on the second slide, as previously discussed.At block 1508, method 1500 may include receiving from a fourth of theplurality of mobile communication devices, a second instance of a secondgraphical code captured from a second slide during a presentation or adecryption of the second instance of the second graphical code, and anassociated fourth comment on the second slide, consistent with thedisclosure above. At block 1510, method 1500 may include performing alookup associated with the first graphical code, to identify a firstrepository associated with the first slide of the presentation,consistent with the disclosure above. At block 1512, method 1500 mayinclude aggregating the first comment and the second comment in thefirst repository, as previously discussed. At block 1514, method 1500may include performing a lookup associated with the second graphicalcode, to identify a second repository associated with the second slideof the presentation, consistent with the disclosure above. At block1516, method 1500 may include aggregating the third comment and thefourth comment in the second repository, consistent with the disclosureabove. At block 1518, method 1500 may include displaying to a presenterof the deck the first comment and the second comment in association withthe first slide, consistent with the disclosure above. At block 1520,method 1500 may include displaying to a presenter of the deck the thirdcomment and the fourth comment in association with the second slide, asdiscussed above.

Aspects of this disclosure may relate to a system for tagging,extracting, and consolidating information from electronically storedfiles. For ease of discussion, a system is described below, with theunderstanding that aspects of the system apply equally to non-transitorycomputer readable media, methods, and devices. As used herein,electronically stored files may refer to collections of data stored asunits in memory, such as a local memory on a user device, a localnetwork repository, a remote repository, or any other data storagedevice or system. Electronically stored files may be configured to storetext data, image data, video data, audio data, metadata, a combinationthereof, or any other data type. Non-limiting examples of electronicallystored files may include document files, spreadsheet files, databasefiles, presentation files, image files, audio files, video files, or anyother collection of data stored as a unit in memory. Information, asused herein, may refer to any data associated with one or moreelectronically stored files. Information may include alphanumerics,words, text strings, sentences, paragraphs, graphics, audio, video,widgets, objects, tables, charts, links, animations, dynamically updatedelements, a combination thereof, or any other data object in anelectronically stored file. Information may also include metadataassociated with a data object or an electronically stored file, theposition of a data object, a heading associated with a data object, orany other characteristic that may be associated with a data object or anelectronically stored file. In some embodiments, information may beorganized in document portions, as described in detail below.

As used herein, tagging may include associating one or morecharacteristics (also referred to herein as “tags”) with information inan electronically stored file. Characteristics, as used herein, mayrefer to any text (e.g., alphanumerics), codes, colors, shapes, audio,graphics, or any other data object or metadata that may identify ordescribe some or all of the information in an electronically storedfile. For example, characteristics may identify or describe theinformation, an author or authors of the information, a statusassociated with the information (e.g., urgency and/or due date of aproject), a date or time at which the information was generated, alocation of a computing device when an author associated with thecomputing device generated the information, or any other feature,attribute, property, or quality of the information associated with anelectronic word processing document. The characteristics may be storedas data and/or metadata in a data structure associated with theelectronically stored file. A data structure, as used herein, mayinclude any collection of data values and relationships among them. Thedata structure may be maintained on one or more of a server, in localmemory, or any other repository suitable for storing any of the datathat may be associated with information from the electronically storedfile. Furthermore, tagging may occur manually by a user or may occurautomatically by the system. For example, an electronically stored filemay include one or more text strings related to brand awareness, and thesystem may enable a user to select the text strings and tag them with acharacteristic, such as the text “marketing,” which may be stored asmetadata in a data structure associated with the electronically storedfile. In another example, a user may generate a table in a collaborativeelectronic word processing document, and the system may automaticallytag the table with a characteristic, such as the user's name, which maybe stored as metadata and text data viewable in the document.

Extracting may refer to a process of obtaining or retrieving informationfrom one or more information sources, such as any storage mediumassociated with electronically stored files, portions of a singleelectronically stored file, platforms, applications, live data feeds, ora combination thereof. Extracting may occur automatically, such as at apredetermined interval, or may occur in response to a user request. Thesystem may extract information sharing one or more commoncharacteristics. For example, an electronically stored file may containinformation in the form of several data objects each having anassociated characteristic. Some data objects may share a commoncharacteristic, “soccer,” and other data objects share a commoncharacteristic, “basketball.” The system may, for example, receive arequest to extract the data objects sharing the common characteristic“soccer,” from one or more data structures associated with theelectronically stored file. In some embodiments, once information isextracted, the system may be configured to further process and/or storethe extracted information.

As used herein, consolidating may refer to the process of combining andstoring, or other aggregating information in a common location, such asin a common file. Consolidating may occur automatically, such as inresponse to an extracting step, or may occur in response to a userrequest with consolidation instructions. The common file may be any filetype, as discussed above with reference to electronically stored files.A common file may include information extracted from one or moreinformation sources, as well as other information. In some embodiments,the common file containing consolidated information may be configured todisplay or present at least some of the extracted information, which maybe identical to the extracted information or may be shortened,abbreviated, modified, expressed in a synonymous or related manner, orotherwise differing manner while maintaining a related meaning to theextracted information. For example, the system may extract data objectswith a common tag “soccer” and data objects with a common tag“basketball” from an electronically stored file and consolidate thesedata objects in a common file. The system may then associate documentsegments sharing the common tag “soccer” and document segments sharingthe common tag “basketball.” In response to receiving a request to openthe common file, the system may display the file contents such that theassociated document segments are grouped together.

By way of example, FIG. 16 illustrates an example of an electronicallystored file containing tagged information. The electronically storedfile may be rendered on a display presenting an electronic wordprocessing document 1600. The document 1600 may display information,such as objects 1602 to 1608. Objects 1602 to 1606 may be text stringsincluding the words “Lizards,” “Turtles,” and “Mosquitoes,”respectively, and object 1608 may be a table titled “Reptiles.” Thesystem may conclude based on a contextual determination that objects1602, 1604, and 1608 include information related to reptiles andassociate a common tag “reptiles” with those objects. Similarly, thesystem may conclude based on a contextual determination that object 1606includes information related to insects and associate a tag “insects”with this object. The system may store each tag as metadata in memory,such as in one or more repositories (e.g., 230-1 through 230-n in FIG.2). Alternatively, or additionally, each tag may be displayed in thedocument 1600, such as, for example, a mouseover text 1610, which may berendered in response to a cursor hover or any other interaction withobject 1602 containing the word “Lizards.” The system may then extractand consolidate information sharing one or more common tags. Forexample, FIG. 17 illustrates an example of an electronically stored filecontaining information sharing the common tag “reptiles” extracted andconsolidated from the electronic word processing document 1600illustrated in FIG. 16. The electronically stored file may be anelectronic word processing document 1700 or any other type ofelectronically stored filed, as discussed above. The document 1700 mayinclude objects 1702, 1704, and 1708, each of which were tagged with thecommon characteristic “reptiles.”

Some disclosed embodiments may include presenting to an entity viewingat least one source document a tag interface for enabling selection andtagging of document segments with at least one characteristic associatedwith each document segment. As used herein, an entity may refer to anindividual, a device, a team, an organization, a group, a department, adivision, a subsidiary, a company, a contractor, an agent orrepresentative, or any other thing with independent and distinctexistence. A source document, as used herein, may refer to any digitalfile in which information may be stored with and retrieved from. Theinformation associated with a source document may include text,graphics, widgets, objects, tables, links, animations, dynamicallyupdated elements, a combination thereof, or any other data object thatmay be used in conjunction with the digital file. The source documentmay further provide for input, editing, formatting, display, and outputof information. Source documents are not limited to only digital filesfor word processing but may include any other processing document suchas presentation slides, tables, databases, graphics, sound files, videofiles or any other digital document or file. Source documents may becollaborative documents or non-collaborative documents. A collaborativedocument, as used herein, may refer to any source document that mayenable simultaneous viewing and editing by multiple entities. Acollaborative document may, for example, be generated in or uploaded toa common online platform (e.g., a website) to enable multiple members ofa team to contribute to preparing and editing the document. Anon-collaborative document, as used herein, may refer to any sourcedocument that only a single entity may modify, prepare, and edit at atime. An entity viewing at least one source document, as used herein,may refer to any entity examining, observing, reading, looking at,inspecting, or otherwise accessing a source document from an associatedcomputing device with a display configured to present information fromthe source document. An entity may view a source document display screenassociated with the entity's computing device, such as a PC, laptop,tablet, projector, cell phone, or personal wearable device. An entitymay also view a source document through a projection, an AR or VRdisplay, or any other means enabling the entity to visually comprehendthe information displayed in the source document.

Document segments, as used herein, may include at least some of theparts or sections into which a source document may be divided. Eachdocument segment may include a visual display of information, such astext (e.g., alphanumerics), graphics, widgets, icons, tables, links,animations, dynamic elements, a combination thereof, or any other itemor object that may be displayed in a segment of a source document.Moreover, each document segment may have associated metadata, such asdescriptive metadata, structural metadata, administrative metadata,reference metadata, statistical metadata, legal metadata, or acombination thereof. Furthermore, each document segment may have anassociated address that may identify a specific memory location, such asin a repository. In some exemplary embodiments, an associated addressmay be, for example, a fixed-length sequence of digits displayed andmanipulated as unsigned integers that enables the system to storeinformation associated with a document segment at a particular locationdesignated by the associated address. Document segments may be manuallydefined by an entity according to preference or may be automaticallydefined by the system. For example, an entity may select any informationand assign it as a document segment. Alternatively, the system may, forexample, define document segments as information separated by a carriagereturn, information in separate columns, information in separate pagesof a source document, similar data objects grouped together, orinformation grouped together in any other manner. Document segments mayfurther be configured to enable an entity to alter the order or layoutin which the segments appear in a source document.

A tag interface, as used herein, may refer to interactive features of aweb page, a mobile application, a software interface, or any graphicaluser interface (GUI) that may enable interactions between an entity andinformation presented on a display of an associated computing device,for the purpose of enabling selection and tagging of document segmentswith at least one characteristic associated with each document segment.In some embodiments, a tag interface may be integrated in a softwareapplication presenting a source document, such as by embedding the taginterface in the application presenting a source document (e.g., as anadd-on or add-in, or any other extension). In other embodiments, a taginterface may part of a stand-alone application that may be accessedfrom, for example, a link in the interface presenting a source document.The interactive features of a tag interface may include, for example,checkboxes, radio buttons, dropdown lists, windows, buttons, drop-downbuttons, pop-up windows, text fields, a combination thereof, or anyother elements with which an entity can interact. An entity may interactwith the interactive elements of a tag interface by using any inputdevice, such as a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, microphone, camera,touchpad, scanner, switch, joystick, or any other appropriate inputdevice. Presenting to an entity viewing at least one source document atag interface, as used herein, may refer to displaying a tag interfaceon a display (physical or virtual) of a computing device associated withan entity. This may occur, for example, by outputting one or moresignals configured to result in the display of a tag interface. A taginterface may be displayed, for example, on a computing device, such asa PC, laptop, tablet, projector, cell phone, or personal wearabledevice. A tag interface may also be displayed virtually through AR or VRglasses, as described herein. Other mechanisms of displaying may also beused to enable an entity to visually comprehend information associatedwith a tag interface. Presenting a tag interface and at least one sourcedocument to an entity may involve rendering this information in adisplay in response to the processor receiving instructions foraccessing the at least one source document. Accessing the at least onesource document may include retrieving the at least one source documentfrom a storage medium, such as a local storage medium or a remotestorage medium. A local storage medium may be maintained, for example,on a local computing device, on a local network, or on a resource suchas a server within or connected to a local network. A remote storagemedium may be maintained in the cloud, or at any other location otherthan a local network. In some embodiments, accessing the at least onesource document may include retrieving the at least one source documentfrom a web browser cache. Additionally or alternatively, accessing theat least one source document may include accessing a live data stream ofthe at least one source document from a remote source. In someembodiments, accessing the at least one source document may includelogging into an account having a permission to access the document. Forexample, accessing the at least one source document may be achieved byinteracting with an indication associated the at least one sourcedocument, such as an icon or file name, which may cause the system toretrieve (e.g., from a storage medium) a particular electronic wordprocessing document associated with the indication.

Enabling selection, as used herein, may refer to allowing an entity tochoose one or more document segments of information rendered on adisplay. In exemplary embodiments, an interface presenting the sourcedocument may enable selecting one or more document segments byhighlighting, clicking, or touching the information in the one or moredocument segments with an input device, such as a mouse or touchscreen.In some other exemplary embodiments, an interface presenting the sourcedocument may enable selecting one or more document segments by typing,dragging, dropping, or using any mechanism to show a selection. Theselection may involve any amount of information displayed in anelectronic document such as a single character, a sentence, a paragraph,a page, or any combination thereof. Further, the selection may involvemultiple selections from different portions of the same electronicdocument.

As used herein, enabling tagging of document segments with at least onecharacteristic associated with each document segment may refer to theprocessor providing the capability of associating one or morecharacteristics with each document segment, consistent with thedisclosure above regarding tagging information from an electronicallystored file. Tagging may occur manually by an entity or may occurautomatically by the system. A characteristic (or tag) may include text,(e.g., alphanumerics), a color, a shape, audio, a graphic, or any otherdata object or metadata or any combination thereof that may identify ordescribe a document segment. For example, a characteristic may identifyor describe the information in a document segment, an author or authorsof the information in a document segment, a status associated with theinformation in a document segment (e.g., urgency and/or due date of aproject), a date or time at which the information in a document segmentwas generated, a location of a computing device when an authorassociated with the computing device generated the information in adocument segment, or any other feature, attribute, property, or qualityof the information associated with a document segment. A characteristic(or tag) may be stored as data and/or metadata in a data structureassociated with the tagged document segment. An electronic document mayinclude any number of document segments, where each segment may beassociated with one or more tags that may differ from the tags withother document segments in the same electronic document.

In an exemplary embodiment, an entity accessing a source document via asoftware application may be presented with information contained in thesource document with an embedded tag interface may select one or moredocument segments, as explained above. A selected document segment may,for example, include information related to a specific project. Theentity may tag the selected document segment with a characteristicassociated with the document segment by using an input device tointeract with interactive features of the tag interface. For example,the entity may select a due date from a date picker to tag the selecteddocument segment with selected due date. The due date may be stored in adata structure (e.g., a repository) associated with the document segmentand may be maintained as metadata and/or displayed as text, graphic, orother data object in the source document. In addition, the entity may,for example, tag a selected document segment with a color selected froma color palate, such that text displayed in the selected documentsegment is highlighted with the selected color.

In another exemplary embodiment, the processor may automatically tagselected document segments with at least one characteristic associatedwith each document segment according to user preferences. For example,an entity may interact with interactive features of the tag interface toinstruct the processor to tag all document segments, and/or all documentsegments generated at a subsequent time, with at least onecharacteristic, such as a description of the information in a documentsegment based on contextual determination, or a date and/or time atwhich an entity generated or lasted edited the information in a documentsegment.

In some embodiments, an at least one characteristic may include aplurality of characteristics chosen from the group consisting ofentities associated with document segments, descriptions associated withthe document segments, time frames associated with the documentsegments, and locations associated with the document segments. As usedherein, entities associated with the document segments may refer toentities (as described earlier) connected to document segments orotherwise having some relation to the document segments. An entity maybe connected to a document segment, for example, if the document segmentincludes information identifying the entity, such as a name, an address,or an image. Furthermore, an entity may be connected to a documentsegment, for example, if the entity generated, edited, or accessed theinformation in the document segment, or otherwise has ownership of theinformation in the document segment or permissions to access thedocument or segments thereof. As used herein, descriptions associatedwith the document segments may refer to a type, kind, or class ofinformation in connection with the document segments. For example, adescription associated with a document segment may be the type ofinformation in the document segment, such as text, a table, a chart, orany other data object. A description associated with a document segmentmay also, for example, be a summary or overview of the information inthe document segment, such as “sports,” “engineering projects,” or“finances.” Time frames associated with the document segments, as usedherein, may refer to dates, times, or a periods of time associated withthe document segments. For example, a time frame associated with adocument segment may be a date on and/or time at which the informationin the document segment was generated or last edited. A time frameassociated with a document segment may also, for example, be a period oftime that represents when a project associated with the information inthe document segment must be completed and/or the time spent generating,inputting, and/or editing the information in the document segment.Locations associated with the document segments, as used herein, mayrefer to a particular place or position (e.g., geographical ordigital/electronic) identified by information contained in documentsegments or a particular place or position of entities associated within the document segments. For example, a location associated with adocument segment may be Switzerland if the document segment containstext of an address in Switzerland. A location associated with a documentsegment may also, for example, be a location of a computing device(e.g., an IP address or a geographical location) when an entityassociated with the computing device first or last generated, edited, oraccessed the information in document segments.

By way of example, FIG. 18 illustrates one example of a source document1800 presented by editing interface 1802, which includes an embedded taginterface for enabling selection and tagging of document segments withcharacteristics associated with each document segment. The document 1800may include an indication of an entity 1804 accessing the document 1800via an editing interface 1802, which may include an embedded taginterface. The document 1800 may include document segments 1806 to 1814,each related to a distinct project. The entity 1804 may select, forexample, document segment 1806 containing the text “Project 1” byclicking any portion of document 1806 (or any other interaction such asa cursor hover) with an input device. The entity may then select icon1816, which is an interactive feature of the tag interface embedded intothe editing interface 1802, to open a pop-up window enabling the entity1804 to tag the selected document segment 1806 with one or morecharacteristics associated with the selected document segment 1806.

By way of example, FIG. 19 illustrates one example of a tag interfacefeature, such as pop-up window 1900, for enabling tagging documentsegment 1806 of FIG. 18 with one or more characteristics associated witheach document segments. The pop-up window 1900 may include an input box1902 in which entity 1804 (from FIG. 18) may input, text. For example,the entity 1804 may input “Entity A,” which may be an entity associatedwith the document segment 1806 (e.g., Entity A may be responsible forcompleting “Project 1” from document segment 1806). The entity 1804 maythen select an “Apply” button 1904 to tag the document segment 1806 withthe characteristic “Entity A.” The entity 1804 may similarly a tagdocument segment 1806 with additional characteristics, such as “Urgent,”which may indicate the priority associated the document segment 1806,and “Engineering,” which may be a description associated with documentsegment 1806 (e.g., “Project 1” from document segment 1806 is anengineering project). The tags 1906 to 1910 associated with documentsegment 1806 may be presented in a rendering of a display box 1906 ofthe pop-up window 1900. The entity 1804 may similarly tag the otherdocument segments 1808 to 1814 (from FIG. 18) with at least onecharacteristic associated with each document segment. In response toreceiving the applied tags, the system may store each tag in a datastructure (e.g., in storage 130, repository 230-1, repository 230-n ofFIGS. 1 and 2) associated with each respective document segment. Inaddition, each applied tag may be metadata associated with itscorresponding document segment and/or may be a data object displayed inthe source document.

FIG. 20 illustrates one example of a source document 1800 (from FIG. 18)with tags 2000 to 2020 associated with document segments 1806 to 1814.The tags 2000 to 2020 may be displayed in a margin of the sourcedocument 1800 next to their associated document segment (e.g., aco-presentation). For example, tags 2000 to 2004 may be associated withdocument segment document segment 1806, and tags 2006 to 2008 may beassociated with document segment 1808. The tags 2000 to 2020 may berendered continuously, or may be rendered in response to an interactionwith an activatable element, such as a setting (e.g., toggling on andoff) or a visual indication of a document segment (e.g., documentsegment 1806). The tags 2000 to 2020 may become hidden in response to aninstruction to remove their renderings from the display, which may bereceived by an input from a user, or from a lack of instruction over aperiod of time (e.g., a time out threshold).

Some disclosed embodiments may further include identifying taggedsegments within an at least one source document. Tagged segments, asused herein, may refer to document segments of a source document thathave at least one characteristic (or tag) associated with the documentsegments. If a document segment does not have at least onecharacteristic associated with it, the processor may assign acharacteristic or tag to that document segment with information toindicate that the document segment lacks at least one characteristic,which as a result may also be considered a tagged segment. Identifyingtagged segments within the at least one source document, may refer to anaction, process, or instance of retrieving or searching in a datastructure associated with document segments of one or more sourcedocuments to determine which document segments of a source document haveat least one associated tag. For example, identifying tagged segmentswithin the at least one source document may involve retrieving anaddress associated with a specific document segment in a sourcedocument, where the associated address may include an access point for adata structure containing information relating to the specific documentsegment and the source document. The system may then perform a lookup inthe data structure to determine whether the specific document segmenthas at least one associated tag. Identifying tagged segments in one ormore source documents may occur based on a predetermined interval, inresponse to a trigger activating a consolidation rule (discussed indetail below), in response to receiving an instruction from an entity(e.g., an entity interacting with a tag interface feature), in responseto receiving an indication of a new tag associated with one or moredocument segments, and/or in response to receiving an indication of amodification to or deletion of an existing tag associated with one ormore document segments.

Referring again to FIG. 20, the at least one processor may identify thetagged segments 1806 to 1814 by retrieving an associated address foreach document segment 1806 to 1814 in the source document 1800. The atleast one processor may then perform a lookup in a data structure (e.g.,in storage 130, repository 230-1, repository 230-n of FIGS. 1 and 2) ataccess points determined by each address associated with the documentsegments 1806 to 1814 to determine that that each document segment 1806to 1814 is a tagged segment.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include accessing a consolidationrule containing instructions for combining tagged segments. Aconsolidation rule, as used herein, may refer to an automation orlogical rule for combining and storing at least some or all of thetagged segments, such as in a common document file (e.g., a tagged-basedconsolidation document, as discussed in detail below). The storing mayoccur at a common location, or some or all aspects of the taggedsegments may be stored in a disbursed manner for later consolidation. Insome embodiments, a consolidation rule may involve combining and storingall tagged segments. In other embodiments, a consolidation rule mayinvolve combining and storing document segments tagged with one or morespecific characteristics (e.g., document segments tagged with “urgent,”with “urgent” and “engineering,” or with “urgent” or “engineering”). Inother embodiments, a consolidation rule may involve combining andstoring all tagged segments. Additionally, a consolidation rule mayassociate document segments sharing common tags, as discussed in detailbelow. A consolidation rule may include default set of instructions thatmay be automatically associated with a source document or may be definedby an entity via a logical sentence structure, logical template, or anyother manner of defining a process that responds to a trigger orcondition. In some embodiments, an entity may access a consolidationinterface to define a consolidation rule, as described in further detailbelow. As used herein, instructions for combining the tagged segmentsmay refer to code in source code format, binary code format, executablecode format, or any other suitable format of code that is associatedwith a logical rule that when executed by one or more processors, maycause the system to join, unite, associate at least some tagged segmentsin a common location, such as a common document file. As used herein,accessing a consolidation rule may refer to the processor performing alookup and retrieving a consolidation rule from a data structure over anetwork connection or local connection. For example, a consolidationrule may be in a data structure stored in the form of a storage medium,such as a local storage medium or a remote storage medium, as discussedpreviously above. A local storage medium may be maintained, for example,on a local computing device, on a local network, or on a resource suchas a server within or connected to a local network. A remote storagemedium may be maintained in the cloud, or at any other location otherthan a local network. By way of example, the system may access theconsolidation rule from a data structure (e.g., in storage 130,repository 230-1, repository 230-n of FIGS. 1 and 2) containinginstructions for combining at least some tagged segments.

Some disclosed embodiments may further include implementing aconsolidation rule to associate document segments sharing common tags.Implementing the consolidation rule, as used herein, may refer toexecuting the consolidation rule, as described above, containinginstructions to combine and store at least some tagged segments in acommon location, such as information in a common document file (e.g., atagged-based consolidation document, as discussed in detail below), andassociate document segments sharing common tags. Implementing theconsolidation rule may occur in response to one or more triggeringevents (i.e., when a condition satisfies a threshold such as when astatus is marked “complete”). For example, a consolidation rule maymonitor one or more source documents for certain conditions to triggerthe execution of the consolidation rule. In some embodiments, a taginterface may include an interactive icon feature that when interactedwith (e.g., by an entity clicking or hovering over the icon with acursor) may trigger the execution of a consolidation rule. In otherembodiments, tagging a document segment with a characteristic, and/or amodifying or deleting an existing tagged segment, may trigger theexecution of a consolidation rule. In further embodiments, identifyingtagged segments within one or more source documents, as explained above,may trigger the execution of a consolidation rule. Document segmentssharing common tags, as used herein, may refer to document segmentsassociated with identical, similar, or related tags. For example, aconsolidation rule may include instructions to combine and storedocument segments that share a tag “soccer.” In another example, aconsolidation rule may include instructions to combine and storedocument segments that share either a tag “soccer” or a tag“basketball.” In yet another example, a consolidation rule may includeinstructions to combine and store document segments that share both atag “soccer” and a tag “basketball” The processor may also have aconsolidation rule that may include instructions to combine documentsegments that share “soccer” and “basketball” tags because the processormay automatically recognize the information in each tag to be associatedwith sports. Associating document segments sharing common tags may referto linking, connecting, joining, or coupling information or dataassociated with document segments sharing common tags. In one example, aconsolidation rule may include instructions to combine and storedocument segments sharing a common “urgent” tag, and the documentsegments sharing the common “urgent” tag may be associated by linkingthe document segments, or by assigning a common code, address, or otherdesignation to the document segments in a non-transitorycomputer-readable medium. In another example, a consolidation rule mayinclude instructions to combine and store document segments sharing bothcommon tags “soccer” and “basketball,” and document segments sharingboth common tags “baseball” and “rugby” because each of these tagsrelate to sports. The document segments sharing the common tags “soccer”and “basketball” may be associated by linking the document segments, orby assigning a common code, address, or other designation to thedocument segments in a non-transitory computer-readable medium; and thedocument segment sharing the common tags “baseball” and “rugby” may besimilarly associated.

Returning again to FIG. 20, a consolidation rule associated with thesource document 1800 may include a set of instructions that, whenexecuted, combine and store all tagged segments 1806 to 1814, andassociate the document segments 1806 to 1814 sharing common tags. Inresponse to the entity 1804 selecting an icon 2022 of the tag interface,the system may execute the consolidation rule. The system may access theconsolidation rule from a data structure (e.g., in storage 130,repository 230-1, repository 230-n of FIGS. 1 and 2) associated with thesource document 1800 to carry out specific consolidation actionsaccording to the consolidation rule. For example, the consolidation rulemay include a logical rule to associate the document segments for“project 1” 1806, “project 2” 1810, and “project 3” 1812 based on alogical rule that each of these document segments are tagged with an“Entity A” tag 2000, 2010, and 2014.

Aspects of this disclosure may further include outputting for display atleast one tagged-based consolidation document grouping together commonlytagged document segments. A tagged-based consolidation document, as usedherein, may refer to a file that is configurable to store informationand data from the document segments sharing common tags. A tagged-basedconsolidation document may further provide for input, editing,formatting, display, and output of information, including informationassociated with the commonly tagged document segments from the one ormore source documents. A tagged-based consolidation document is notlimited to only digital files for word processing but may include anyother processing document such as presentation slides, tables,databases, graphics, sound files, video files or any other digitaldocument or file. In some embodiments, the at least one tagged-basedsource document may be a new document generated by the at least oneprocessor when a consolidation rule is implemented. In otherembodiments, the at least one tagged-based source document may be anexisting document, which may be one or more source documents. Forexample, a consolidation rule may include migrating informationassociated with the document segments sharing common tags from one filelocation (e.g., a source document file) to another file location (e.g.,an existing document file). Outputting for display at least onetagged-based consolidation document, as used herein, may refer toproducing, delivering, or otherwise transmitting one or more signalsconfigured to result in the presentation of at least one tagged-basedconsolidation document on a screen, other surface, through a projection,or in a virtual space. Outputting for display at least one tagged-basedconsolidation document may occur in response to implementing theconsolidation rule or may occur in response to receiving a request toopen a tagged-based consolidation document. Furthermore, outputting fordisplay at least one tagged-based consolidation document may occur, forexample, on one or more of a touchscreen, a monitor, AR or VR display,or any other means previously discussed and discussed further below. Theat least one tagged-based consolidation document may be presented, forexample, via a display screen associated with an entity's computingdevice, such as a PC, laptop, tablet, projector, cell phone, or personalwearable device. The at least one tagged-based consolidation documentmay also be presented virtually through AR or VR glasses, or through aholographic display. Other mechanisms of presenting may also be used toenable the entity to visually comprehend the presented information. Theat least one tagged-based consolidation document may appear as a newwindow, as a pop-up, or in other manner for presenting the document on adisplay associated with an entity. As used herein, grouping togethercommonly tagged document segments may refer to the process ofassembling, arranging, aggregating, or organizing document segments in amanner in which commonly tagged segments may be displayed as acollection of document segments. In one example, grouping togethercommonly tagged document segments may involve displaying one group ofcommonly tagged segments in a first list and a second group of commonlytagged segments in a second list. In another example, grouping togethercommonly tagged document segments may include displaying one group ofcommonly tagged segments on a first presentation slide and a secondgroup of commonly tagged segments on a second presentation slide. In yetanother example, grouping together commonly tagged document segments mayinclude displaying one group of commonly tagged segments in cells of afirst table column and displaying a second group of commonly taggedsegments in cells of a second table column.

By way of example, FIG. 21 illustrates an example of a tagged-basedconsolidation document 2100 grouping together commonly tagged documentssegments 1806 to 1814 from the source document 1800 illustrated in FIGS.18 and 20. The tagged-based consolidation document may include headings2106 to 2120 representing each of the tags associated with documentsegments 1806 to 1814 from the source document 1800 illustrated in FIGS.18 and 20. The tagged-based consolidation document may further includedocument segments sharing common tags below each heading 2106 to 2120.For example, tagged segments 1806, 1810, and 1812 each share a commontag “Entity A” and therefore are grouped together below the “Entity A”heading 2106. Similarly, for example, tagged segments 1806 and 1812 eachshare a common tag “Engineering” and therefore are grouped togetherbelow the “Engineering” heading 2114. The processor may group documentsegments based on one or more tags according to any consolidation ruleand may re-render a display to consolidate and group the documentsegments into other organizations in response to receiving a newconsolidation rule.

In some embodiments, an at least one source document may include aplurality of source documents, and a tagged-based consolidation documentmay include document segments from a plurality of source documents. Aplurality of source documents, as used herein, may refer to at least twodistinct source documents. Document segments from the plurality ofsource documents, as used herein, may refer to at least one documentsegment from each of the plurality of source documents. For example,each of the plurality of source documents may include one or more taggedsegments, and a consolidation rule hosted by a platform may combine andstore at least some of the tagged segments and associate the combinedand stored document segments sharing common tags, consistent with theabove disclosure. In some embodiments, the processor may map theplurality of source documents to a consolidation rule eitherautomatically (e.g., by detecting the plurality of source documentsavailable in a repository or workspace), or manually (e.g., a userselects the particular plurality of source documents that theconsolidation rule may apply to). Similarly, the consolidation rule maybe mapped to a single source document that may be associated with othersource documents, to thereby map the other source documentsautomatically to the consolidation rule.

Returning again to FIG. 20, source document 1800 may be an example ofone source document. By way of example, FIG. 22 may be an example of asecond source document 2200. The second source document 22 may includedocument segments 2202 and 2204. Document segment 2202 may include agraph and a chart and may have been tagged with characteristics “urgent”and “finance.” Document segment 2204 may include a table and may havebeen tagged with a characteristic “marketing.” In response to receivingthe applied tags, the system may store each tag as metadata in a datastructure (e.g., in storage 130, repository 230-1, repository 230-n ofFIGS. 1 and 2) associated with each respective document segment. Anentity may access a consolidation interface (not pictured but discussedin detail below) to define a consolidation rule associated with thesource documents 1800 and 2200 that may include a set of instructionsthat, when executed, combine and store document segments tagged withboth characteristics “engineering” and “urgent” in a new document (e.g.,the tagged-based consolidation document in FIG. 23, discussed below).The consolidation rule may be implemented in response to a trigger, suchas in response to an entity selecting an icon 2022 (from FIG. 20) or anicon 2206 (from FIG. 22) of the tag interface.

By way of example, FIG. 23 illustrates one example of a tagged-basedconsolidation document 2300 including document segments from a pluralityof source documents 1800 (from FIGS. 18 and 20) and 2200 (from FIG. 22).The tagged-based consolidation document 2300 includes document segmentssharing the common tags “engineering” and “urgent,” namely documentsegments “Project 1” 1806 and “Project 4” 1812 from the source document1800 (from FIGS. 18 and 20) and document segment 2202 from the sourcedocument 2200 (from FIG. 22).

In additional embodiments, the at least one tagged-based consolidationdocument may include at least one heading of an associated tag, andassociated tag segments beneath the at least one heading. A heading ofan associated tag, as used herein, may refer to a label referencing theinformation contained in a tag that document segments may share incommon with each other. In some embodiments, a heading of an associatedtag may be the exact tag shared by document segments. For example, oneor more document segments may share the common tag “Germany,” and aheading of an associated tag may be “Germany.” In another example, oneor more document segments may share the common tags “Germany” and ashape, such as a square, and a heading of an associated tag may be“Germany” and a square. In other embodiments, a heading of an associatedtag may differ from the tag shared by document segments. For example, acommon code may link them. One or more document segments may sharecommon “Urgent” tags, with text in the document segments highlighted inyellow, and a heading of an associated “Urgent” tag highlighted inyellow. In another example, one or more document segments may sharecommon tags “Urgent” or “Engineering,” with a heading of an associatedtag labeled “Engineering Projects and Urgent Projects.” As used herein,associated tag segments beneath the at least one heading may refer todisplaying document segments sharing common tags below, beside, orotherwise surrounding a heading of an associated tag. For example, aheading of an associated tag may be displayed at the top of a verticallist, and document segments sharing a tag associated with the headingmay be displayed below the heading. In another example, a heading of anassociated tag may be displayed in a cell of a table, and documentsegments sharing a tag associated with the heading may be displayed incells of a column or row containing the heading. In yet another example,a heading of an associated tag may be displayed as a title of apresentation slide, and document segments sharing a tag associated withthe heading may be displayed in the body of the presentation slide.

Returning again to FIG. 21, the tagged-based consolidation document 2100may include headings of an associated tag 2106 to 2120. For example,document segments “Project 1” 1806, “Project 3” 1810, and “Project 4”1812 (from FIGS. 18 and 20) were tagged with a common characteristic“Entity A,” and are displayed beneath a heading of an associated tag“Entity A” 2106.

In some exemplary embodiments, the consolidation rule may include atransmissions component for transmitting the tagged-based consolidationdocument to at least one designated entity. A transmissions component,as used herein, may refer to an instruction, associated with theconsolidation rule, to send or transfer information from one device toanother device. For example, a transmissions component associated with aconsolidation rule may involve sending an email to at least onedesignated entity with the tagged-based consolidation document as anattachment to the email. In other embodiments, the transmissionscomponent may involve sending a notification to indicate that thetagged-based consolidation document has been generated, but store thetagged based consolidation document in a repository for later retrievalby at least one designated entity. At least one designated entity, asused herein, may refer to any entity that is assigned to receivetransmitted information. A designated entity may automatically selectedby the system or may be manually selected by another entity. Forexample, the system may configure the consolidation rule to transmitinformation to other workflow participants (i.e., other members of ateam cooperating via a common online platform), or an entity may, forexample, input an external address associated with a designed entity towhich information may be transmitted. As used herein, transmitting thetagged-based consolidation document may refer to sending or transferringthe tagged-based consolidation document from one device to anotherdevice (e.g., a computer, smartphone, or tablet) associated with atleast one designated entity. Transmitting the tagged-based consolidationdocument may involve transmitting the document itself or transmitting alink to access the document, for example, via a web application.Furthermore, transmitting the tagged-based consolidation document may becarried out through a local or remote network and/or through wired orwireless connections. Transmitting the tagged-based consolidationdocument may also occur within the platform that hosts the consolidationrule. Such transmitting may occur directly or indirectly. Directtransmission may occur if the transmission mechanism is incorporatedinto the consolidation rule itself. Indirect transmission may occur ifthe consolidation rule links to a proprietary or third-partycommunications platform (e.g., email, SMS, or other communicationsapplication), and through the link relays information to thecommunications platform for transmission.

In some exemplary embodiments, the at least one processor may be furtherconfigured to present a consolidation interface for enabling definitionof the consolidation rule. A consolidation interface, as used herein,may refer to interactive features of a web page, a mobile application, asoftware interface, or any graphical user interface (GUI) that enableinteractions between an entity and a device, for the purpose of enablingdefinition of the consolidation rule. In some embodiments, aconsolidation interface may be integrated in the tag interface, whichmay be embedded in a software application presenting a source document,a previously discussed. In other embodiments, a consolidation interfacemay part of a stand-alone application that may be accessed from, forexample, a link in the interface presenting a source document. As usedherein, presenting a consolidation interface may refer to displaying aconsolidation interface on a screen of a computing device associatedwith an entity. This may occur, for example, by outputting one or moresignals configured to result in the display of a consolidationinterface. A consolidation interface may be displayed, for example, on acomputing device, such as a PC, laptop, tablet, projector, cell phone,or personal wearable device. A consolidation interface may also bedisplayed virtually through AR or VR glasses. Other mechanisms ofdisplaying may also be used to enable an entity to visually comprehendinformation associated with a consolidation interface. As used herein,enabling definition of the consolidation rule may refer to permitting anentity to generate and customize a consolidation rule by interactingwith interactive features of the consolidation interface. In someembodiments, a consolidation interface may present a logical sentencestructure or logical template (e.g., automations) and/or otherinteractive features, such as radio buttons, checkboxes, input boxes,and/or drop-down menus.

Returning again to FIG. 20, the source document 1800 may be presented byediting interface 1802, which includes an embedded tag interface. Theembedded tag interface may include an incorporated consolidationinterface. For example, an entity 1804 accessing the source document1800 may select icon 2024 to open a pop-up window enabling the entity1804 to access tagging preferences and consolidation preferences anddefine consolidation rules.

By way of example, FIG. 24 illustrates one example of such a pop-upwindow 2400 containing a consolidation interface for enabling definitionof a consolidation rule. In this example, the entity 1804 may select the“Define New Consolidation Rule” tab 2402. The pop-up window 2400 mayinclude a “Browse Files” button enabling the entity 1804 to select oneor more source documents to include in a consolidation rule. In thisexample, the entity 1804 has selected source document 1800 (from FIGS.18 and 20) and source document 2200 (from FIG. 22). The pop-up window2400 may also include logical template 2406 that may enable the entity1804 to define which tags to include in the consolidation rule. Thelogical template 2406 may include fill-in-the-blank components 2408 to2412 that include drop-down menus. For example, fill-in-the-bankcomponent 2408 may include a drop-down menu 2414 that may contain eachof the tags assigned to document segments in the selected sourcedocuments 1800 and 2200 (e.g., by performing a lookup of all taggeddetected in the source document and presenting the tags in the drop downmenu); whereas fill-in-the-blank component 2410 may include a drop-downmenu 2416 that may include Boolean commands. In this example, the entity1804 used the logical template 2406 to consolidate document segmentsfrom the source documents 1800 and 2200 that share the common tags“Engineering” and “Urgent.” Furthermore, the pop-up window 2400 mayinclude radio buttons 2418 and 2420 that enable the entity 1804 toconsolidate these documents segments in a new document or in an existingdocument. In this example, the entity 1804 has selected ratio button2418 corresponding to “Create New Document.” The entity 1804 may thenselected an “Apply” button 2422 to apply the consolidation rule. Inresponse to receiving the consolidation rule, the system may displaythis consolidation rule and previously defined consolidation rules in awindow displayed when the “Consolidation Preferences” tab 2424 isselected.

Returning to FIG. 23, the tagged-based consolidation document 2300 maybe one example of a tagged-based consolidation document generated byimplementation of the consolidation rule defined via the consolidationinterface in FIG. 24. The tagged-based consolidation document 2300includes document segments sharing the common tags “engineering” and“urgent,” namely document segments 1806 and 1812 from the sourcedocument 1800 (from FIGS. 18 and 20) and document segment 2202 from thesource document 2200 (from FIG. 22).

In further exemplary embodiments, a consolidation interface may permitgeneration of the consolidation rule in a manner permittingconsolidation of document segments based on more than one of theplurality of the characteristics. As used herein, permitting generationof the consolidation rule may be carried out consistent with thedisclosure above for enabling definition of the consolidation rule. Asused herein, permitting consolidation of document segments based on morethan one of the plurality of the characteristics may refer to combiningand storing document segments tagged with more than one characteristic,as previously discussed. For example, a consolidation interface mayenable an entity to select document segments tagged with both “soccer”and “basketball,” or documents segments tagged with “soccer” or“basketball.” In another example, a consolidation interface may enablean entity to select document segments tagged with both “soccer” and“basketball,” and document segments tagged with “baseball” and “rugby.”In this example, the consolidation rule may associate document segmentssharing the common tags “soccer” and “basketball” and associate thedocument segments sharing the common tags “baseball” and “rugby.” Atagged-based consolidation document may then group together the documentsegments sharing the common tags “soccer” and “basketball” and thedocument segments sharing the common tags “baseball” and “rugby.”

Returning again to FIG. 24, the consolidation interface illustrated inpop-up window 2400 may enable consolidation of document segments basedon more than one of the plurality of characteristics. For example, thepop-up window 2400 may include a logical template 2406 that may enableselection of more than one characteristic, such as “Engineering” and“Urgent,” as illustrated.

By way of example, FIG. 25 illustrates a block diagram for an exemplarymethod for tagging, extracting, and consolidating information fromelectronically stored files, consistent with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Method 2500 may begin with process block 2502 bypresenting to an entity viewing at least once source document a taginterface for enabling selection and tagging of document segments withat least one characteristic associated with each document segment, aspreviously discussed. At block 2504, method 2500 may include identifyingtagged segments within the at least one source document, consistent withthe disclosure discussed above. At block 2506, method 2500 may includeaccessing a consolidation rule containing instructions for combining thetagged segments, consistent with the disclosure above. At block 2508,method 2500 may include implementing the consolidation rule to associatedocument segments sharing common tags, as previously discussed. At block2510, method 2500 may include outputting for display at least onetagged-based consolidation document grouping together commonly taggeddocument segments, consistent with the disclosure above.

Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used hereinhave the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill inthe art. The materials, methods, and examples provided herein areillustrative only and not intended to be limiting.

Implementation of the method and system of the present disclosure mayinvolve performing or completing certain selected tasks or stepsmanually, automatically, or a combination thereof. Moreover, accordingto actual instrumentation and equipment of preferred embodiments of themethod and system of the present disclosure, several selected steps maybe implemented by hardware (HW) or by software (SW) on any operatingsystem of any firmware, or by a combination thereof. For example, ashardware, selected steps of the disclosure could be implemented as achip or a circuit. As software or algorithm, selected steps of thedisclosure could be implemented as a plurality of software instructionsbeing executed by a computer using any suitable operating system. In anycase, selected steps of the method and system of the disclosure could bedescribed as being performed by a data processor, such as a computingdevice for executing a plurality of instructions.

As used herein, the terms “machine-readable medium” “computer-readablemedium” refers to any computer program product, apparatus and/or device(e.g., magnetic discs, optical disks, memory, Programmable Logic Devices(PLDs)) used to provide machine instructions and/or data to aprogrammable processor, including a machine-readable medium thatreceives machine instructions as a machine-readable signal. The term“machine-readable signal” refers to any signal used to provide machineinstructions and/or data to a programmable processor.

Various implementations of the systems and techniques described here canbe realized in digital electronic circuitry, integrated circuitry,specially designed ASICs (application specific integrated circuits),computer hardware, firmware, software, and/or combinations thereof.These various implementations can include implementation in one or morecomputer programs that are executable and/or interpretable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processor, whichmay be special or general purpose, coupled to receive data andinstructions from, and to transmit data and instructions to, a storagesystem, at least one input device, and at least one output device.

Although the present disclosure is described with regard to a “computingdevice”, a “computer”, or “mobile device”, it should be noted thatoptionally any device featuring a data processor and the ability toexecute one or more instructions may be described as a computing device,including but not limited to any type of personal computer (PC), aserver, a distributed server, a virtual server, a cloud computingplatform, a cellular telephone, an IP telephone, a smartphone, a smartwatch or a PDA (personal digital assistant). Any two or more of suchdevices in communication with each other may optionally comprise a“network” or a “computer network”.

To provide for interaction with a user, the systems and techniquesdescribed here can be implemented on a computer having a display device(a LED (light-emitting diode), or OLED (organic LED), or LCD (liquidcrystal display) monitor/screen) for displaying information to the userand a keyboard and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse or a trackball) bywhich the user can provide input to the computer. Other kinds of devicescan be used to provide for interaction with a user as well; for example,feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g.,visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input fromthe user can be received in any form, including acoustic, speech, ortactile input.

The systems and techniques described here can be implemented in acomputing system that includes a back end component (e.g., as a dataserver), or that includes a middleware component (e.g., an applicationserver), or that includes a front end component (e.g., a client computerhaving a graphical user interface or a Web browser through which a usercan interact with an implementation of the systems and techniquesdescribed here), or any combination of such back end, middleware, orfront end components. The components of the system can be interconnectedby any form or medium of digital data communication (e.g., acommunication network). Examples of communication networks include alocal area network (“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), and theInternet.

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other.

It should be appreciated that the above described methods and apparatusmay be varied in many ways, including omitting or adding steps, changingthe order of steps and the type of devices used. It should beappreciated that different features may be combined in different ways.In particular, not all the features shown above in a particularembodiment or implementation are necessary in every embodiment orimplementation of the invention. Further combinations of the abovefeatures and implementations are also considered to be within the scopeof some embodiments or implementations of the invention.

While certain features of the described implementations have beenillustrated as described herein, many modifications, substitutions,changes and equivalents will now occur to those skilled in the art. Itis, therefore, to be understood that the appended claims are intended tocover all such modifications and changes as fall within the scope of theimplementations. It should be understood that they have been presentedby way of example only, not limitation, and various changes in form anddetails may be made. Any portion of the apparatus and/or methodsdescribed herein may be combined in any combination, except mutuallyexclusive combinations. The implementations described herein can includevarious combinations and/or sub-combinations of the functions,components and/or features of the different implementations described.

Disclosed embodiments may include any one of the followingbullet-pointed features alone or in combination with one or more otherbullet-pointed features, whether implemented as a method, by at leastone processor, and/or stored as executable instructions onnon-transitory computer-readable media:

-   -   enabling access to an electronic word processing document        including blocks of text;    -   wherein each block of text has an associated address;    -   accessing at least one data structure containing block-based        permissions for each block of text;    -   wherein the permissions include at least one permission to view        an associated block of text;    -   receiving from an entity a request to access the electronic word        processing document;    -   performing a lookup in the at least one data structure to        determine that the entity lacks permission to view at least one        specific block within the electronic word processing document;    -   causing to be rendered on a display associated with the entity,        the electronic word processing document with the at least one        specific block omitted from the display;    -   wherein the electronic word processing document includes        graphical objects, and wherein the block-based permissions        include restrictions on viewing the graphical objects;    -   wherein the at least one data structure is configured to        maintain identities of document authors;    -   wherein the document authors are enabled to define the block        permissions;    -   wherein the electronic word processing document is a        collaborative document;    -   receiving an added block from an editing entity;    -   enabling the editing entity to set block permissions for the        added block;    -   permitting the editing entity to set a permission blocking an        author of the document from viewing the added block;    -   wherein the data structure includes separate permissions for        viewing and editing;    -   performing a look up of viewing and editing permissions        associated with a particular collaborative user who, for a        particular block, has viewing permissions and lacks editing        permissions;    -   rendering the particular block on a display associated with the        collaborative user in a manner permitting viewing of the        particular block while preventing editing of the particular        block;    -   wherein each address includes at least one of a block-associated        tag, block-associated metadata, or a block-associated location;    -   wherein an absence of a recorded permission in the at least one        data structure for a particular block constitutes an        unrestricted permission for the particular block;    -   receiving from a first of the plurality of mobile communications        devices, a first instance of a first graphical code captured        from a first slide during a presentation, or a decryption of the        first instance of the first graphical code, and an associated        first comment on the first slide;    -   receiving from a second of the plurality of mobile        communications devices, a second instance of the first graphical        code captured from the first slide during the presentation or a        decryption of the second instance of the first graphical code,        and an associated second comment on the first slide;    -   receiving from a third of the plurality of mobile communications        devices, a first instance of a second graphical code captured        from a second slide during the presentation or a decryption of        the first instance of the second graphical code, and an        associated third comment on the second slide;    -   receiving from a fourth of the plurality of mobile        communications devices, a second instance of the second        graphical code captured from the second slide during the        presentation or a decryption of the second instance of the        second graphical code, and an associated fourth comment on the        second slide;    -   performing a lookup associated with the first graphical code, to        identify a first repository associated with the first slide of        the presentation;    -   aggregating the first comment and the second comment in the        first repository;    -   performing a lookup associated with the second graphical code,        to identify a second repository associated with the second slide        of the presentation;    -   aggregating the third comment and the fourth comment in the        second repository;    -   displaying to a presenter of the deck the first comment and the        second comment in association with the first slide;    -   displaying to the presenter of the deck, the third comment and        the fourth comment in association with the second slide;    -   wherein the first graphical code includes at least one of a bar        code and a QR code;    -   wherein the first repository and the second repository        constitute separate portions of a common file;    -   displaying in real time to the presenter during the presentation        at least one of the first comment, the second comment, the third        comment, and the fourth comment;    -   aggregating the first comment, the second comment, the third        comment, and the fourth comment into a common electronic word        processing document;    -   presenting the first comment, the second comment, the third        comment, and the fourth comment in a chat during the        presentation;    -   causing a first portion of the chat containing the first comment        and the second comment to be co-presented in association with        the first slide;    -   causing a second portion of the chat containing the third        comment and the fourth comment to be co-presented in association        with the second slide;    -   presenting to an entity viewing at least one source document a        tag interface for enabling selection and tagging of document        segments with at least one characteristic associated with each        document segment;    -   identifying tagged segments within the at least one source        document;    -   accessing a consolidation rule containing instructions for        combining the tagged segments;    -   implementing the consolidation rule to associate document        segments sharing common tags;    -   outputting for display at least one tagged-based consolidation        document grouping together commonly tagged document segments;    -   presenting a consolidation interface for enabling definition of        the consolidation rule;    -   wherein the at least one characteristic includes a plurality of        characteristics chosen from the group consisting of entities        associated with the document segments, descriptions associated        with the document segments, time frames associated with the        document segments, and locations associated with the document        segments;    -   wherein the consolidation interface permits generation of the        consolidation rule in a manner permitting consolidation of        document segments based on more than one of the plurality of the        characteristics;    -   wherein the at least one tagged-based consolidation document        includes at least one heading of an associated tag, and        associated tagged segments beneath the at least one heading;    -   wherein the at least one source document includes a plurality of        source documents and wherein the tagged-based consolidation        document includes document segments from the plurality of source        documents; and    -   wherein the consolidation rule includes a transmissions        component for transmitting the tagged-based consolidation        document to at least one designated entity.

Systems and methods disclosed herein involve unconventional improvementsover conventional approaches. Descriptions of the disclosed embodimentsare not exhaustive and are not limited to the precise forms orembodiments disclosed. Modifications and adaptations of the embodimentswill be apparent from consideration of the specification and practice ofthe disclosed embodiments. Additionally, the disclosed embodiments arenot limited to the examples discussed herein.

The foregoing description has been presented for purposes ofillustration. It is not exhaustive and is not limited to the preciseforms or embodiments disclosed. Modifications and adaptations of theembodiments will be apparent from consideration of the specification andpractice of the disclosed embodiments. For example, the describedimplementations include hardware and software, but systems and methodsconsistent with the present disclosure may be implemented as hardwarealone.

It is appreciated that the above described embodiments can beimplemented by hardware, or software (program codes), or a combinationof hardware and software. If implemented by software, it can be storedin the above-described computer-readable media. The software, whenexecuted by the processor can perform the disclosed methods. Thecomputing units and other functional units described in the presentdisclosure can be implemented by hardware, or software, or a combinationof hardware and software. One of ordinary skill in the art will alsounderstand that multiple ones of the above described modules/units canbe combined as one module or unit, and each of the above describedmodules/units can be further divided into a plurality of sub-modules orsub-units.

The block diagrams in the figures illustrate the architecture,functionality, and operation of possible implementations of systems,methods, and computer hardware or software products according to variousexample embodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, eachblock in a flowchart or block diagram may represent a module, segment,or portion of code, which includes one or more executable instructionsfor implementing the specified logical functions. It should beunderstood that in some alternative implementations, functions indicatedin a block may occur out of order noted in the figures. For example, twoblocks shown in succession may be executed or implemented substantiallyconcurrently, or two blocks may sometimes be executed in reverse order,depending upon the functionality involved. Some blocks may also beomitted. It should also be understood that each block of the blockdiagrams, and combination of the blocks, may be implemented by specialpurpose hardware-based systems that perform the specified functions oracts, or by combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments have been described withreference to numerous specific details that can vary from implementationto implementation. Certain adaptations and modifications of thedescribed embodiments can be made. Other embodiments can be apparent tothose skilled in the art from consideration of the specification andpractice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that thespecification and examples be considered as example only, with a truescope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the followingclaims. It is also intended that the sequence of steps shown in figuresare only for illustrative purposes and are not intended to be limited toany particular sequence of steps. As such, those skilled in the art canappreciate that these steps can be performed in a different order whileimplementing the same method.

It will be appreciated that the embodiments of the present disclosureare not limited to the exact construction that has been described aboveand illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and that variousmodifications and changes may be made without departing from the scopethereof.

Other embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art fromconsideration of the specification and practice of the disclosedembodiments disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification andexamples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spiritof the disclosed embodiments being indicated by the following claims.

Computer programs based on the written description and methods of thisspecification are within the skill of a software developer. The variousprograms or program modules can be created using a variety ofprogramming techniques. One or more of such software sections or modulescan be integrated into a computer system, non-transitory computerreadable media, or existing software.

Moreover, while illustrative embodiments have been described herein, thescope includes any and all embodiments having equivalent elements,modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across variousembodiments), adaptations or alterations based on the presentdisclosure. The elements in the claims are to be interpreted broadlybased on the language employed in the claims and not limited to examplesdescribed in the present specification or during the prosecution of theapplication. These examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.Further, the steps of the disclosed methods can be modified in anymanner, including by reordering steps or inserting or deleting steps. Itis intended, therefore, that the specification and examples beconsidered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit beingindicated by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for tagging, extracting, andconsolidating information from electronically stored files, the systemcomprising: at least one processor configured to: present to an entityviewing at least one source document a tag interface for enablingselection and tagging of document segments with at least onecharacteristic associated with each document segment; identify taggedsegments within the at least one source document; access a consolidationrule containing instructions for combining the tagged segments;implement the consolidation rule to associate document segments sharingcommon tags; and output for display at least one tagged-basedconsolidation document grouping together commonly tagged documentsegments.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to present a consolidation interface for enablingdefinition of the consolidation rule.
 3. The system of claim 2, whereinthe at least one characteristic includes a plurality of characteristicschosen from the group consisting of entities associated with thedocument segments, descriptions associated with the document segments,time frames associated with the document segments, and locationsassociated with the document segments.
 4. The system of claim 3, whereinthe consolidation interface permits generation of the consolidation rulein a manner permitting consolidation of document segments based on morethan one of the plurality of the characteristics.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the at least one tagged-based consolidation document includesat least one heading of an associated tag, and associated taggedsegments beneath the at least one heading.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the at least one source document includes a plurality of sourcedocuments and wherein the tagged-based consolidation document includesdocument segments from the plurality of source documents.
 7. The systemof claim 1, wherein the consolidation rule includes a transmissionscomponent for transmitting the tagged-based consolidation document to atleast one designated entity.
 8. A non-transitory computer readablemedium containing instructions that when executed by at least oneprocessor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations fortagging, extracting, and consolidating information from electronicallystored files, the operations comprising: presenting to an entity viewingat least one source document a tag interface for enabling selection andtagging of document segments with at least one characteristic associatedwith each document segment; identifying tagged segments within the atleast one source document; accessing a consolidation rule containinginstructions for combining the tagged segments; implementing theconsolidation rule to associate document segments sharing common tags;and outputting for display at least one tagged-based consolidationdocument grouping together commonly tagged document segments.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein theoperations further comprise presenting a consolidation interface forenabling definition of the consolidation rule.
 10. The non-transitorycomputer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the at least onecharacteristic includes a plurality of characteristics chosen from thegroup consisting of entities associated with the document segments,descriptions associated with the document segments, time framesassociated with the document segments, and locations associated with thedocument segments.
 11. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 10, wherein the consolidation interface permits generation of theconsolidation rule in a manner permitting consolidation of documentsegments based on more than one of the plurality of the characteristics.12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein theat least one tagged-based consolidation document includes at least oneheading of an associated tag, and associated tagged segments beneath theat least one heading.
 13. The non-transitory computer readable medium ofclaim 8, wherein the at least one source document includes a pluralityof source documents and wherein the tagged-based consolidation documentincludes document segments from the plurality of source documents. 14.The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein theconsolidation rule includes a transmissions component for transmittingthe tagged-based consolidation document to at least one designatedentity.
 15. A method for tagging, extracting, and consolidatinginformation from electronically stored files, the method comprising:presenting to an entity viewing at least one source document a taginterface for enabling selection and tagging of document segments withat least one characteristic associated with each document segment;identifying tagged segments within the at least one source document;accessing a consolidation rule containing instructions for combining thetagged segments; implementing the consolidation rule to associatedocument segments sharing common tags; and outputting for display atleast one tagged-based consolidation document grouping together commonlytagged document segments
 16. The method of claim 15, the method furthercomprising presenting a consolidation interface for enabling definitionof the consolidation rule.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the atleast one characteristic includes a plurality of characteristics chosenfrom the group consisting of entities associated with the documentsegments, descriptions associated with the document segments, timeframes associated with the document segments, and locations associatedwith the document segments.
 18. The method of claim 17, wherein theconsolidation interface permits generation of the consolidation rule ina manner permitting consolidation of document segments based on morethan one of the plurality of the characteristics.
 19. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the at least one tagged-based consolidation documentincludes at least one heading of an associated tag, and associatedtagged segments beneath the at least one heading.
 20. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the at least one source document includes a pluralityof source documents and wherein the tagged-based consolidation documentincludes document segments from the plurality of source documents.